Haworth -- past and present: a history of Haworth, Stanbury & Oxenhope

THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA

LOS ANGELES

HAWORTH-PAST AND PRESENT:

A HISTOKY OF

ik Ilnnlturm

6 u 6

BY J. HORSFALL TURNER,

AUTHOR OF

; Nonconformity in Idel, with the History of Airedale College,"
"Independency at Briyhowe" tC'c.

TWENTY ILLUSTRATIONS.

ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL.

BRIGHOUSI; :
J. S. JOWETT, "NEWS" OFFICE.

MDCCCLXXIX.

To

LOED HOUGHTON, D.C.L.,

ANTIQUARY, POET, PATRIOT,

THESE PAGES,

ON A SUBJECT OF SPECIAL INTEREST

To His LORDSHIP,
ARE (BY PERMISSION) RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED.

PREFACE.

THIS little handbook is the outcome of a conversation the
writer had with a native of Haworth, who expressed an opinion
that a history of the township would be as acceptable to the
inhabitants as to the numerous visitors. Whether this volume
will fully answer the acknowledged requirements, it is not for
me to say. I have had the pleasure of gathering the notes,
and the task of stringing them together. The gathering of
historic data I have always felt to be a pleasure; the task of
stringing them together has been almost invariably irksome.
In the first place, I have little time, and (I ought to add) in the
second, little ability to do more than I have done.

The critic will ask, " Why meddle, then ? " Well, I have
this hobby, and it is one that will favourably compare with
most hobbies. If this does not disarm him I must plead that
each one has his sphere, and that local effusions need all the
encouragement they can command. I have pleasure in
acknowledging kindly services from the Rev. James Whalley,
Messrs. A. Holroyd, W. Scruton, and T. Fairbank.

COLLEGE HOUSE, IDEL, LEEDS.
October 1st, 1879.

545231

CONTENTS.

PAGE

TOPOGRAPHY 9 — 10

ANCIENT HISTORY. Druidical. Roman. Kirkby's Inquest. Nos-

tell. The Manors. Barnard's Survey. Subsidy Roll 11 — 14

WILLS 14—21

THE MANOR. Birkhead. Midgley. Oxenhope 21 — 23

THE CHURCH. Origin. Inscriptions. Chantry 23 — 32

INCUMBENTS. Pawson. Wynterburn. Emmott. Halifax.

Smith. Rawlinge 32 — 34

ENDOWMENT. Rebuilding. Tithes. Benefaction 34 — 36

REV. E. ROBINSON. Coining. Church Registers. Emmotts ... 36—38

REV. J. COLLIER. REV. E. GARFORTH 39

REV. R. TOWN. Registers. Exercises 40 — 41

REV. J. COLLIER. Ramsdens. Recusants. Token 41 — 42

REV. E. MOORE. Middleton. REV. R. MARGERISON. Heywood 42—43
DISSENT. Foster. Rhodes. Smith. Feather. ROBINSON ... 43 — 44

REV. T. ELLISON. REV. W. CLIFFORD. JACKSON 45 — 46

SEAT HOLDERS. Benefactions 46 — 49

REV. I. SMITH. Suspended. Clog and Shoe Wedding. Mr.

Keighley. Bells 49—51

REV. W. GRIMSHAW. Presentation. Life by Newton, £c.

Relics 51—74

CHURCH REBUILT. REV. J. RICHARDSON. Caveat 74

REV. J. CHARNOCK. Law Suits. Terrier. Arvill 75 — 76

REV. S. REDHEAD. Uproars 76 — 79

REV. P. BRONTE. Fennells. Thornton Chapel. Books. Family
History. Curates. Novelists. Trials. Rev. A. B.
Nicholls. Marriage of Miss Bronte. Memorabilia.
Tablet. Graveyard. REV. J. WADE 79—100

METHODISM. Ingham. Grimshaw. Maskew. Greenwood.

Lee. Catlow. Darney 101 — 105

Rev. John Wesley. Whitetield. Grimshaw's Letters.

Reply to White. Chapel. Ministers 105 — 113

BAFHSTS. Hartley. Greenwood. Fawcett's Poem. Crabtree's

Sermon 113 — 119

Rev. I. Slee. Thomas. Oddy. Winterbothom. Bury, Keats.

Wood. Aldis. Harper. Hall Greeii Chapel ... 119—123

Content*.

PAOl.

Ha worth. People. Railway. Astrology.

Voters. Worsted. Area 123—129

Sowileiis. Ash Mount. The OKI Hall. Ducking Stool ... 129—133

The Grammar School 133 — 136

Scandinavian Names. Mytholm. Oxenhope. Valley. Church 136 — 143
Captain Edwards. Copley Pedigree. Thomas Parker ... 143—146

Stanbury. Crow Hill Bog. Pond en 147—154

DKMOLITIOX OF HAWORTH CHURCH 155 — 164

AUTHORS. Branwell Bronte. Rev. P. Bronte. Bronte

Hardaker .. 164—

p. 105-
p. 124.
p. 129.
p. 131.
p. 132.
p. 137.
p. 142.
p. 152.
p. 169.
p. 174.

ADVERTISEMENT.

Nonconformity in Idel, with the History of
Airedale College."

free for 3s.

ILLUST1

Haworth Church, Frontispiece.
,, Parsonage p. viii.
Church (East) p. 30.
Emmott, or Old Hall p. 38.
Rev. P. Bronte ... p. 73.
Thornton Chapel ... p. 81.
,, Parsonage p. 82.
( 'harlotte Bronte ... p. 88.
Rev. A. B. Nicholl* p. 92.
Haworth Parsonage, 1879 p. 101

IATI01TS.

Rev. W. (jrimshaw
Haworth Village ...
Grimshaw's Flagons
The Old Hall
Ducking Stool
Bronte Group
Oxenhope Church ...
Thomas Parker
"Keeper." ...
Charlotte Bronte ...

Ten Illustrations. Post

"Independency at Brig-house— Pastors and

People." Four Illustrations. Post free for 3s.

" The Twin Churches— Lightcliffe and Coley."

Illustrated. 3s. [Will be re-issued as soon as suffi-
cient Subscribers' names are received.]

'* Haworth— Past and Present." Twenty Illustra-
tions, 3s,

HAWORTH— PAST AND PRESENT.

x GENERATION ago it would have been much more necessary
•*"*• to define the latitude and longitude of Haworth than it is
at present. Even now it is generally supposed to be a most
outlandish, or rather, one should say, inlandish place. Then,

Iliiworth was known beyond its immediate district to few be-
sides the old race of Methodists who treasured the memory of
the incumbent Grimshaw, Wesley's co-worker. Notr, Haworth
is on the lips of thousands upon thousands in various parts of
the world. What has tended to this change? It is not owing
to any sudden growth into a populous manufacturing town;
nor owing to some royal personage, or merchant prince
waving a magic wand over the barren hills ; nor to the late won-
derful development in various branches of industry, else Haworth
would have been left behind comparatively ; nor to a great
railway system; nor even to a second Grimshaw. No;
Haworth, and Stratford, and Abbotsford have their world- wide
fame on account of the great thinkers who dwelt there.
Haworth — the home and burial place of the Brontes : such
would he the gazetteer-like reply of the majority of readers if
questioned as to what Haworth was. It has been asked if ever
anyone was born at Stratford besides Shakespeare ! To any
similar query respecting Haworth, we hope these pages will
give a somewhat similar answer as has been returned from
Stratford.

Embosomed in the high moorlands connected with the Pen-
nine Range, is the ancient village of Haworth, with the hamlets
of Stanbury and Oxcnhope in its township. The ancient
chapelry comprises an area of 10,540 acres, stretching from
the village of Haworth (four miles south-west of Keighley,)
westward to the boundary of Lancashire, nearly half of which
is uncultivated moors, heaths and commons. The township is
in the parish of Bradford, yet completely isolated from the

B

10 Haicorth :

rest of that parish, being eleven miles distant from the town.
Before the Worth Valley Railway was opened it was a point of
some difficulty to decide upon the best means of reaching this
ancient village. "Haworth — a chapelry in Bradford parish,
and Morley wapontake,* West Riding, Yorkshire," is still a
somewhat indefinite direction to give a stranger, but formerly
Haworth was difficult of access. Now the general direction
is — "Aim for Keighley, on the Midland Railway, and there
change for the Worth Valley Line which has a length of five
miles, having stations at Ingrow, Dameins, Oakworth, Haworth,
and Oxenhope, the latter (in Haworth township,) being the
terminus." Worth Valley derives its name from the Worths
just mentioned, and is of modern application. The Worth, if
we may so name the stream, is an inconsiderable river, and
empties itself into the Aire at Keighley. Owing to the large
reservoirs constructed on the moors the quantity of water is
now insignificantly small. The two main becks forming the
Worth stream meet, in Oxenhope, at Banks' Mill, otherwise
called Brooks-meeting Mill, and passing, Dunkirk, Rishworth,
Oxeuhope, Bridgehouse, and Ebor (Merrall's) Mills, leaves
Haworth, near the Railway Station, for Oakworth.

There has been a large increase in the population of Haworth
during the present century.

In 1801 the chapelry or township contained 8164 souls; in
1811, 3971; in 1821/4668; in 1831, 5835.

In 1841 Haworth had 2434, Far Oxenhope 1910, near
Oxenhope 1013, and Stanbury 946, giving a total population
of 6,303.

In 1871 Haworth had 2700, Far Oxenhope 1704, near
Oxenhope 808, and Stanbury 754, total 5,966 — a decrease of
three hundred from 1841, but an increase of nearly three
thousand on 1801.

Haworth is not mentioned by name in the Domesday Sur-
vey, 1086, and no records of previous occupation have come
down to us, unless Oakeudeu Stones, a heap of rocks on Stan-
*0r hundred, from the custom of swearing fidelity by 'touching
the sheriffs weapon.'

Past and Present. 11

bury Moor, are the remains of a Druid's altar. They consist
of two stones erected perpendicularly. "On Crow Hill, the
loftiest eminence of the ancient chapelry of Haworth, and at a
height of 1,500 feet above the level of the sea, is a cromlech,
an evident Druidicial remain, consisting of one flat stone,
weight about six tons, placed horizontally upon two huge
upright blocks, now half embedded in the heather." — Lewis's
Topographical Dictionary. A Roman vicinal way is believed
to have passed near Many well-heights ; and the name Stanburgh
(on the road to Colne, the Colony of the Romans,) is a strong
indication that the place was held as a fortification by that
people. The first direct notice we have is in the record known
as Kirkby's Inquest, taken 24th year of Edward 1, 1296, when
Godfrey de Haworth, Roger de Manyngham, and Alicia de
Bercroft, had four oxgangs in Haworth, where twenty-four
carucates made a knight's fee. William de Horton had four
oxgangs in Oxeuhope, and William de Clayton held other four
oxgangs in Oxenhope. Mr. James supposes that the Manyng-
hams and Bercrofts acquired their property at Haworth as heirs
of John de Haworth.

The rich Abbey of Nostell held lands in Oxenhope at a very
early date. Mr. Jennings records in his MSS., British
Museum : — " Alexander, son of Swane de Clayton, gave to
Nostell Priory an oxgang of land in Oxenhope, which Swane
fil Lefnath held, and another oxgang held by Wulmet ; Thomas
de Thornton, sou of Hugh de Thornton, confirming the grant
which Wulmet held, and Richard de Clayton confirming the
land held by Swane fil Lefnath."

" John fil Allen de Baildon, with Cecily his wife, gave to
Nostell all their part of the land which lay between the toft
belonging to Nostell, which their son, Alexander, gave to
them, on the east side of the river, running from the east
side of the village of Oxenhope, and the outer ditch which the
Canons of Nostell made by the assent, and of the gift of our
fellows. Elias de Oxenhope and Agnes, his wife, confirmed
the said grant.''

12 Ilau-orth:

" William de Aukehvorth, or Aukeworth, confirmed the
grant of one toft in Oxenhope made to Nostell by his father,
John de Aukeworth."

" Richard de Haworth had a dispute with the Prior of
Xostell respecting certain lands and a warren between Oxen-
hope and Haworth which was settled by agreement."

The Haworths, of Haworth, disappear from the local
history after this date, but from the time of Edward III. to the
present they occur as landowners in South Lancashire.

Jane de Oxenhope, the last lineal descendant of that
name, having married Adam Copley de Batley, alias Adam de
Batley, the Oxenhope property became vested in him, and he
assumed the name Adam de Oxenhope, in the reign of Edward
II. Sometime after the death of this Adam, in 1337, the
Eltofts held the land, having acquired it, most probably, by
marriage, as they quartered the Copley arms — argent, a cross
moline, with theirs. The Eltofts came from Darlington.
William Eltoft in 1409 paid for his relief vjs. viijd. for four
oxgangs at Oxenhope. This William, who probably married
a Copley, had a son Henry, the father of Christopher Eltoft,
against whom, in the time of Henry VII., a bill was filed in
the Duchy Court for enclosing forty acres of land at Oxenhope,
when he pleaded that he was lord of the manor of Oxenhope.
Thus we have another mesne manor, distinct from Haworth
and Stanbury. Stanbury, up to the present, has continued in
Bradford Manor. Christopher Eltoft married the sister of
Sir Richard Tempest, Knight, and had three sons, Anthony,
William, and Edmund. In Barnard's Survey, 1577, Edmund
is recorded as owner, in succession to William. Edmund
married Agnes, daughter of Sir W. Fairfax, of Steeton, and
resided at Farnhill. They had issue Edmund, whose son
Thomas was sixteen in 1585. Further particulars of the
Eltofts may be found Harl. MS., 1477, Brit. Mus. Antony
Eltoft, gentleman, had lands in Bingley, 15 Henry VIH.

In 1311, on the death of the Earl of Lincoln, an inquisition
was taken, which shows that the Haworths held land in

Past and Present. 13

Haworfch at that time. " This inquisition records three tenants
under the Lacy fee :

William de Clayton who held iiij bovates, or oxgangs in
Oxenhope, and x oxgangs in Clayton of the yearly
value of xivs. xd.
William de Horton held iiij oxgangs in Oxenhope of yearly

value of iiij s.

Heirs of John de Haworth held iiij oxgangs of land in
Haworth, and v oxgangs in Manyngham, yearly
value of vija.

TheNomina Villarum, 1316, gives Haworth and Oxenhope
as in the possession of Nicholas de Audley, who held Bradford
Manor; but sometime after this Haworth became a ruesne
manor, and in 1544, as stated by Mr. J. C. Brook, Herald's
College, MSS., Sir Christopher Danby, Knight, is the recorded
possessor of John de Haworth' s property, and from him it
descended to the Rish worths.

Barnard's Survey, taken in 1577, affords the following
information :

Haworth — I carucate ibm quondam Johis Haworth,
postea Roger de Manyngham & Johis Bercroft,
uuper Johis Rishworth, & niodo Alex. Rishworth tent.
per servic viij part un feodi mil. In qua villa diet.
Alexander clamat habere manerium ratione tre
praedict.

Oxenhope — IV bov. tre quondam William de Heton,

[mistaken for Horton,] postea Willi Eltofts, & modo

Edm. Eltofts armiger. tent, per servic, &c.

We have a lesume in these few words of the descent of

the properties for a considerable period : In Haworth was a

carucate of land, formerly in the possession of John Haworth,

afterwards of Roger dc Manniugham and John de Bercroft,

lately of John Rishworth, and now of Alexander Rishworth,

held by service as the eighth part of a knight's fee; in which

town the said Alexander claims to hold the manor by reason

of the said land. Similarly, under Oxenhope, the Eltofts

claimed the manor.

14 Haworth:

Th« poll tax of 2 Richard II, 1380, mentions forty
persons as inhabitants of Haworth, each of whom paid the tax
of four pence, except John de Bercroft, a merchant, whose
fine is set down at xijtl. Bradford township had fifty-nine
persons charged.

The Subsidy Roll, loth Henry VIII, 1525, [Yorkshire
Archseo- Journal] gives under HAWORTH :

William Bayley for xls. lands ijs.

John Michell for xxvjs. viijd. lands xyjd.

Edward Akcroyd for iiijli. vjs. viijd. lands iiijs. iiijd.

Thomas Whyttaker for xls. guds xijd.

Richard Schakkylton for xls. guds xijd.

William Horsfall for xls . guds xij d .

John Clogh for his wages xxs. by yer vjd.

Edward Holmes for xxs. lands xijd.

Under the same Roll, twenty-three persons at Bradford paid
£4 2s. lOd. ; three at Manuingham paid 3s. 4d. ; four at
Horton paid £1 8s. Od. The Riding Rate, 24 Elizabeth,
1582, shews the relative importance of the folllowing town-
ships at that date: — Haworth Is, Hothersfield Is. 5d., Brad-
ford Is. 8d., Halifax Is. 7d., Bingley 9d., Otley 10d., Ilkley
6d., Baildon 5d.

In 1577 Christopher Holmes, John Mitchell, senior, and
Thomas Scott appear as leading inhabitants of Haworth.

To complete the observations I have to make on that
period I will here record particulars from the wills of Haworth
people, extracted (by the kind permission of Mr. Hudson,)
from the original books at York.

Edmund Tutyll, of Haworth, 1530, by will, gave his
soul to God Almighty, the Blessed Virgin, and All Saints,
and his body to be buried at St. Michael's, Haworth. To Sir
Alexander Emote, curate at Haworth, he gave iijs. iiijd. To
the church at Haworth vjs. viijd. He mentions his sons
Henry and Umfray, his daughter Isabel, and his brother
Thomas.

Past and Present. 15

Thomas Whitecars, of Haworth, seke of body, hool of
mynd, made his will in 1631. "To Sir Alexander Emott
xxd to py. [pray] for me. To Grace my daughter the best
panne in my house except one." Mentions his daughters
Alyson, Jannet, and Agnes; and Margaret his wife. His
executors were exhorted to act justly " as answer me before
God at the dome." "I py. my Right Worpful. maister Syr
Rychard Tempest, Knyght, to be a good maister unto Thomas
my son." Witnesses — Sir Alex. Emott, preist, Sir John
Clerk, deaken.

William Horsfall, of Haworth, made his will July 1st,
1536, seke in bodye, gave his soul to God and his body to be
buried in the kirkgarthe of S. Michael, Haworth. To the
church he gave vjs. viijd., to the curate iijs. iiijd. To Thomas
his son xls. To Richard his sou xs. To Margaret his
daughter a ' cowe." To William his sou, a bedde of clothes.
The reversion of the household stuffe to Margaret and Eliza-
beth his daughters. To Margaret daughter of his son Thomas,
xiijs. iiijd. To the two childer of Edmund Bynnes to ayder of
theme iijs. iiijd. To Richard Horsfall my beste iackett, my
beste doblet and my beste hose. William my son to be
executor. Thyes beeyng Wittenes — John Dyxon, Thomas
Horsfall. Proved by William, the sou, August 10th, 1536.

T'liijihri Rishtcorth, gent., Haworth, seke in bodie and
boll in mynde, gave his soull to God Almightie, the Blessed
Mary and All Saints, .and his body to S. Michell's Church in
Haworth. To the Church at Haworth vjs. viijd. To Elizabeth
his daughter xiijli. vjs. viijd. Isabel his wife to be executrix.
Sir Stephen Smith, witness, 1589.

Robert Shakilton, of the parish of Haworth, 1543, men-
tions his children but not by name. Agnes his wife was
executrix, and Sir Robert Shakilton and Sir Steven Smith
were witnesses. Undoubtedly Sir Robert Shakilton, the
priest, would be a relation. Sir Steven Smith was the priest
at St. Michael's.

16 Haworth :

Joint Dene, of Haworth, 1544, gave to "Edward my sonxxs.
To Agnes my daughter vjs. viijd. The rest to my foure sons,
except viij. shepe to Richard the sonue of John Dene of Hep-
toustall. To John the elder and William my sonnes, my
lauds in luddingden called Hcrboitleghes.'' His sons John,
John, William and Edward were executors, and Arthur Raw-
Huge, ' preist,' was witness.

It was not uncommon to have two children of the same
name living together.

John Pit/hells, of Haworthe, 1546, gave to Elizabeth his
daughter xxs. and a bedde of clothes. To Henry, John,
Thomas, and Thomas, my foure sonnes, xs each. To Anne
my daughter a braseu pott, and a paune and her childe parte.
To Richard aud Christopher my sonnes towe sylver spones
each beside their childes parte. Margaret my wife executrix.
Wituesses — Arthur Rawlinge, presto at Haworthe, John
Midgcley, Gilbert Bynncs, John Emott.

Aijnes Person, of Haworth, widdo, "I give my sone
Anthony to the charge of Edward Byuues my broder to educate
and bring up. Margaret my daughter to Elles Bynnes my
broder. John my sonc to Henrie Pyghells. Agnes my
daughter to William Scott, Will proved Oct. 22nd, 1549
before Dom. Thos. Ogden, curatus de Bradford.

James Barrett, Haworth, 1549, mentions Agues his wife,
Jennett his daughter, and Umfray his son. Witnesses —
Christopher Holmes, William Pighells, Edmunde Bynnes.

John Mwgatroyde, of Biugley parish, directed his body
to be buried at Haworth Church. Agnes his wife, and
Richard his sou executors. To Isabell daughter of John
Risheworth he gave xxvjs. viijd. Dated 1551.

Thomas Jenkenson, of the parish of Haworthe, 1552,
[Arabic figures first time used in this case.] gave his goods
quick and dead to his wife Margaret. Witnesses — Arthur
Rawlinge, prest, William Rysheworth.

Yorkshire people use the word ' wick ' still for ' alive.'

Past and Present. 17

John Eishworth, of Hawortbe, gave his soul to God and
the Virgin Mary, 1557. To Margaret my wife, and Umfray
and Thomas my sonnes, I give my land at Haworthe and
Haworthe bank. John my sonne executor. Mentions ' Mar-
garet daughter of William my sonne.' To makying of the
glassen wyndowe.s in the chappell of Haicorth xvjd.

John Sutchjft'e, Haworth, will dated 1558.

John Eishworth e, of Haworthe, by will dated May 15th,
1569, directed his body to be buried within the sanctnarie at
Haworth. To the Vicar of Bradford he gave the usual mor-
tuary. " Isabell my wief, to have the tenement in Haworth
for life, remainder to Henry my son. To Henry, my great
arke. John, my son, to be executor. Mentions also ' Chris-
topher, Anno, and Janet my children."

Jennet Pic/hell, of HA worth parish, widdow, 1571, men-
tions her children — John, Roger, Jennet, and Katheringe.

In the name of the Father, the Sone, and the holy Ghoste,
so be it, I, Richarde Snnderlande, of Hye Sunderlande, 1573,
being one of those elect and chosen psons wch are to be saved

give to the poor of Northowram £3 6s. 8d. for

clothing, and £3 6s. 8d. to the poor of Haworthe for clothing.''
The Coley estate in Hipperholme purchased from John Rish-
worth, Esq., Alexander Rish worth, gent., his son and heir,
and Beatrix wife of the said Alexander (then living) he
bequeathed to his son, Richard Sunderland.

Grace Sunderland, of High Sunderland, 1574, daughter
of Richard Sunderland, gave by will (inter alia) to the wyfe of
John Rishworth, of lanehead, Haworth, xs.

John Moore, of Haworthe parish, 1574, directed his body
to be buried in the chappell yard at Hawortbe. Names three
daughters — Janette, Johan, and Alice. Witnesses Sr. Arthur
Rawlyn, clarke eodra, &c.

John Clayton, Haworth, 1574, gave his lands to his wife
Agnes, with remainder to his sons, Richard, and others
unnamed.

18 Hwcorth :

Mar;/, <1an;/hter of Richard Sunderland, of High Sunder-
lancl, 1574, gave (inter alia) to Abraham, son of Henry Rish-
worth 2s., to Robert son of John Rishworth 3s. 4d., To the
wyfe of John Ryshworth of laynehead, Haworth 20s., to
Christopher Ryshworth 20s., to Anne his syster, 10s., to
Henry Rishworth 10s., to Jennet daughter of John Rishworth
10s., to John Rishworth, wolman, of Boothes town [near
Halifax] £10., to the \vyf of John Rishworth one reade
gathered pettycote, a paire of black sieves and one rayment of
lynnen. To Jennet my sister and to the wyffe of John Rish-
worth the rest of my rayment. To Jennet daughter of John
Rishworth a reade pettycote.

John Oijilen, Haworth, 157C, mentions his son Richard,
his wife Alice, his daughter Alice, and his son-in-law, George
Margaret.

Isabel Eishirorth, of Haworthe. widowe, 1577 directed
that her body should he interred at Haworth. To Anne, her
daughter, she bequeathed one blacke kirtlc, and one white
petticote. To Jennet, her daughter, the wife of Richard Byns,.
a kertle, kerchief, and apron. To Alice the wife of Christopher
Rishworth a white petticote. To Isabel daughter of Henry
Rishworth one kyrtle homed about the skyrte with a re^de
liste, one lynnin kirchif, one kaile and one apron. The rest
to Christopher and Anne, her children. John, her son, was
executor. Witnesses — Henry Rishworth, Ric. Byns.

Christopher Pit/hells, Haworth, 1577, gave his lands to
his daughter Margaret, wife of Robert Nutter.

Galj'nj Wilson, of the parish of Haworth, 1577 directed
that his body should be buried at Haworth. Left his farm to
Henry, Jennet, and Margaret children of James Wilson.
Arthur Rawlinge, clerk, witness.

Christopher AinUcr, of Haworth, 1578, mentions his wife
Margaret, and his daughters, Mawde and Jennet.

John Mitch rll, of Stanburie, 1580, gave xxs. to John son
of John Horsfall, of Sludley [Heptonstall] Christopher
Mitchell, his son, executor.

f'ttxt and 1J resent. 19

John Clai/toH, Haworth, 1580, names his wife, Margaret,
and one of his sons, John.

Edmund Whittakcrs, of Haworth parish, 1582, ordered
his body to be buried at Haworth. To William, son of Richard
Ogden, he gave ten ewes. His 'fermhold' he left to his wife,
Margaret, and son, William.

Henri/ liixheivorth, of Haworth Chappell, bequeathed all
his property to William Rishworth. Witnesses — Thomas Scot,
Edward Risheworth; 1584.

Christopher Harr/reares, of Oxenhope, in the parish of
Haworthe, 1584, gave to Agnes his wife, and Christabel his
daughter, lands at Holkinstone and Stoneybanke. Legacy to
his nephew, Thomas, son of Lawrence Hargreaves. Also xxs.
to the buyldinge of HAWORTHE CHURCH when it may be
enlarged.

Ghristophtr Mi/chdl, of Haworthe, 1585, left his tenement
in Haworth to his wife Johne or Jennet, with remainder to his
children — Christopher, Esabell, Nycholas, and Marie. Also
xxs. towards the enlarging of HAWORTH CHAPEL, if clone within
xx years. Christopher Mychell, of Stanbury, and Edward
Sutclyffe, of Oxnope, were the appointed supervisors, and
Thomas Horsfall a witness.

liichard Crabtrec, of Stanburie, 158.6, left his property to
his wife Agnes, with remainder to his brothers — William,
Thomas, and James. The overseers of the will were — Chris-
topher Mytchell, of Stanbury, and William Mytchell, clerk, of
Hep ton stall.

Abraham Snnderland, of High. Sunderlaud in Northourom,
1586, (inter alia) gave to John Rishworth, of Shipden, his
tenant, £10; to Christopher Rishworth, of Haworth, 20s.; to
the wife of Henry Rishworth 20s ; to Richard Rishworth, gentle-
man, the debt owing from him; lands at Bingley, and Keighley,
to Richard Sunderland, his brother.

Dorothie Ricroft, of Oxenoppe 1584, gave to "Alice wife
of Richard Rishworth iiij marks, a reade coote, (red coat,) and
a smocke. The rest of my apparell I give to Marie, Dorothie,

20 Haworth :

and Richard Rishworth. To Richard Rishworth xiijs. iiijd."
The rest of her property she bequeathed to Christopher and
Richard sons of Richard Rishworth, of Haworth.

John liynncx, of Haworth, 1586, desired to be buried in
the churchyard at Haworth. Mentions 'Mr. Thomas Rishe-
worth my landslord.' Bequeathed his property to his wife
Elizabeth, and his children — Robert, Elizabeth, Marye,
William, John, and Susan.

Elline Pit/hells, of Haworthe, 1587, mentions Henry
Pighells, her brother. Bequeathed to Elizabeth and Mary
daughters of Jeft'ery Hartley, xs. each. The rest of her
property she gave to ' Christopher, Isabel, and Mary, childer
of the late Christopher Mitchell, of Haworth,' and appointed
Christopher Mitchell, of Standburie, executor.

Thomas Horsfall, of fledereford, in Kighley, 1589, .gave
to Robert son of Robert Harpr. of Sutton, his lands in flederie-
ford. To the two children of Richard Horsfall vjs. viijd. To
Thomas Horsfall a seckinge jerkin, and xxijs. To the poor of
Haworth xs.

John Brii/i/e, of Haworth, 1589, gave to his son Henry
his lands at Oxnoppe, and also vjli. xiijs. iiijd. The rest to
his wife Agnes, and sons — William, Samuel, Henry, John and
Ambrose.

Elizabeth Scott, of Haworthe, widow, 1590, gave to
William Pighells, of Oxenhope, ' My son in law, xs. To
Christopher son of Thomas Scott a silver spone, and xijd. To
Thomas son of Christopher Scott xijd. To Thomas son of
Thomas ffletcher xijd. To Mary daughter of the said William
Pighells xijd. The rest to Agnes and Janet Scott. Witness
— William Rishworth, and others.

We will again vary our narrative by introducing another
family interested, though not resident, in Haworth. Richard
Birkheade, of Halifax parish, 1544, gave his 'soull to god
verelie belevinge myself to be one of the chosen nombre that
shalbe saved thrughe christe,' &c. 'To my towe eldest sonnes
Richarde and Martvne mv lands at Crofton, near Wakefield.

I'ast and Present. 21

To Elizabeth my wyf, and to my three younger sonnes, Thomas
John, and Robert, my lands in Halifax. The rest to Anne,
Sibell, Elizabeth, Isabell and Margaret my daughters.' He
appointed as overseers — Thomas Sauvell, (Saville,) of Clifton,
Mr. Richard Pyuioude, of Wakefield, Robert Wuterhouse, of
Halifax, William Kynge, and 'John Best, prest, writer hereof.'
Witnesses — Sir William Saltonstall, prest, and others. In
1582, John Lacy, Esquire, of Leventhorpe, Bradford, gave a
'chest with three locks, with all the evydences in yt, to the
charge of Martyu Birkhead, Esquire, Richard Lacy, and John
Lacy,' each to have a key, and all to be present whenever it
was opened. In 1590, Martyne Birkhead, of Wakefield, made
his will, bequeathing his lands in Southowrani, near Halifax, to
Mary, his wife, for life. Harden Grange to Daniel his son.
To NATHANIEL BIRKHEAD, his eldest son, lie bequeathed his
'best geldinge, armor, weapons, gould riuge with scale of my
armes, and the great boke of ffit/herbert Abridgements of the
Lawe.' This Nathaniel Birkhead, Esq., was LORD OF THE
MANOR OF HAWORTH. John Birkhead, of Wakefield, and
Richard Birkhead, of Horbury, appear as wealthy men in 1524.
The Birkheads had acquired Haworth before IiilO, in which
year Christopher Dickson, of Stanbury, and Thomas Pighells
conveyed land at Haworth, (adjoining Stanbury west field, the
New Intacke, and the land of William Pighells,) with moors,
turves, &c., to Christopher Mitchell, yeoman. The manor
passed from Martin Birkhead, Esq., of Wakefield, to Nicholas
Bladen, Esq., of the Inner Temple, London, but at what date
I am unable to say. Mr. Bladen, in 1671, sold the manors of
Haworth and Harden to William Midgley, gent., of Haworth,
and Joseph, his son. Joseph Midgley, gent., the son, settled
the manor, in 1690, on himself for life, with remainder to his
brothers, Thomas and William, and to the survivor of them.
William Midgley died in September, 1728, and is noticed in
the Register of Burials as ' Lord of the Manor of Haworth.'
Hie son, David Midgley, was Lord of the Manor, less than a
year, dying in April, 1724. David Midgley, of Westcroft head

22 Haworth :

in Haworth, gout., made his will March 5th, 1724, arid gave to
his cousin Joseph Midgley, son and heir of William Midgley,
of Oldfield, in Keighley, yeoman, the manor or lordship of
Haworth, and all commons, royalties and appurtenances belong-
ing to the same ; also a messuage called Cookhouse, situate near
Haworth, and the land thereto belonging, in the occupation of
William Midgley, his cousin. After mentioning his late brother
William, Testator gives to his mother Judith Midgley, the
messuage and land , called Withens, in Haworth, for her life,
and after her death to Joseph Midgley and Timothy Horsfall,
of Westcroft head, his brother-in-law, to hold upon trust, and
with the rents, issues and profits, to clothe with good and
convenient blue clothes, and other necessary wearing apparel,
ten poor children &c. He gives to Mary, his sister, wife of
Timothy Horsfall, a messuage, with land, called Bully Trees,
in Stanbury ; to Sarah, his sister, wife of Thomas Lister, of
Heptonstall Oidtowu, and his said sister Mary, all the residue
of his lands. Joseph Midgley executor. Witnesses — Jonas
Horsfall, Michael Horsfall, and T. Dobson. A tablet in the
church records the death of Joseph Midgley, of Oldfield, Lord
of the Manor of Haworth, November 10th, 1705, aged 40.

In 1811, the manor was purchased for £4,100 from the
Midgleys by the Trustees of Benjamin Ferrand, Esq., of Bing-
ley. On the death of his mother, Mrs. Sarah Ferrand,
William Ferrand, Esq., of St. Ives, Bingley, became Lord.
W. B. Ferrand, Esq., the present Lord, succeeded Edward
Ferrand, Esq. There was, in the south «ast corner of Haworth
Church, elevated a few steps above the rest, a pew known as the
'Lord's Pew,' which was removed about eight years ago by the
present Rector and sent to Miss liushworth, the owner, at whose
residence, Moutdgreave, it is preserved. At the foot of this
pew was the burial place of the Midgleys.

Oxenhope mesne manor has been in the possession of the
Greenwood family many years, but it seems to have been
divided into several parts in the seventeenth century. Mr.
lames says: — "From a conveyance of Thornton Manor, about

Past and Present. 23

1700, I perceive that four shillings yearly was payable out of
Oxenhope to Thornton Manor. How this payment arose I
have no knowledge." Mr. J. C. Brook, in 1777, says in his
MSS., Herald's College: — "Charles Wood, Esq., of Bowling
Hall, informs me that the Manor of Oxenhope is divided into
five parts, of which he has one, Abraham Bauine, of Bradford,
another, and the three heiresses of Copley, of Batley, the other
three." The whole of the manor vested, by purchase, in the
late Joseph Greenwood, Esq., of Springhead, and is now the
property of Captain Edwards, though there are many estates
here held by other families, as the Rushworths, Binns,
Horsfalls, Kershaws, Emmotts, Greenwoods, &c.

HAWOETH CHURCH.

Lawton sums up his notice of Haworth Church in a few
sentences. It is dedicated to St. Michael ; is a perpetual
curacy, net value £170 ; chapel room for 1000. Patrons—
the Vicar of Bradford and Trustees. The curate is nominated
by the Vicar, in conformity to the choice of the freeholders, and
particularly of the trustees of lands heretofore purchased for the
augmentation of the curacy, and at their instance and request.

Maintenance £27 IBs. per annum.

Recommended to be made a parish ; Parliamentary Sur-
vey, Vol. xvm, page 291. [1655.]

A Brief having been obtained in 1754, a faculty was
granted 17th July, 1755, to enlarge the chapel.

1757, March, 22nd, confirmation of seats.

1779, July 29th, faculty to erect a gallery.

The glebe house is fit for residence.

The Register Books commence in 1045.

Parochial Charities — No return.

Abp. Sharp's MS. Vol. i. pp. 172, 858.

Dr. Whitaker (Luidis, p. 355,) in his attempt to disprove
the antiquity of Haworth church has fallen into the opposite
error. He says — " Haworth is prior, but not long prior, to
the Reformation ; a tremendous anachronism, indeed, if we
are to believe a modern inscription near the steeple.

24 Haii-orth :

HlC FUIT COENOBIUM MoNACHORUM

AUTASTE FUNDATORE ANNO CHRISTI

SEXCENTESSIMO —

that is before the first preaching of Christianity in Northumbria.
The origin of this strange misapprehension is visible on an
adjoining stone

fiouij sfnfu

in the character of Henry the VIII th's time.

Now every antiquary knows that the formulary of prayer,
PRO BONO STATU, always refers to the living. I suspect that
this singular Christian name has been mistaken by the stone-
cutter for Eustat, a contraction of Eustatius, but the word Tod,
which has been misread for the Arabic numerals six HUNDRED,
is perfectly fair and legible. I suspect, however, that some
minister of the chapel has committed the two-fold blunder,
first, of assigning to the place this absurd and impossible
antiquity; and secondly, from the common form, ORATE PRO
BONO STATU, of inferring the existence here of a monastery.

But 'hae uugae seria ducunt in mala ;' for ignorance as
often happens, opened the door to strife. On the presumption
of this foolish claim to antiquity, the people would needs set
for independence, and contest the right of the Vicar to nomin-
ate a curate. The chapel itself bears every mark of the reign
of Henry VIII., but has some peculiarities; asex.gr. only
two aisles, a row of columns up the middle, and three windows
at the east end, one opposite to the columns. On the whole,
Hawoith is to Bradford as Heptonstall to Halifax — almost at
the extremity of population, high, bleak, dirty, and difficult of
access."

The Doctor finely displays his crotchets in this summary
description. Church and Curate, village and people are alike
at fault. Haworth Church, as a foundation, notwithstanding
the Doctor's emphatic denial, is 'long prior to the Reformation.'
In the history of the Curate's dealings with THE Han-urth
Stone he was probably nearer the truth. Manufactures and

Past and Present. 25

popular independence were sure to call forth the
Doctor's indignation. The parallel with Heptonstall
is very just, perhaps more so than he intended, for he surely
must have known of the antiquity of Heptonstall.
" Why should not we have an old church ?" asks the good lady
who conducts visitors around. It seems as if strangers
begrudge Haworth apre-norman edifice, and the natives ask what
motive could have induced anyone to invent the statement.
We are all apt to credit a statement in print that suits our
ideas, and at Haworth we have a ' fact ' stated on stone four
times over !

" Where ignorance is bliss 'tis folly to be wise."
It would be very pleasing to make the grand discovery that
Haworth Church was co-eval with Canterbury and York, or a
connecting link with the old British Christian Church. But,
alas for Ha worth! we have got the words ' mother church of
Dewsbury ' and its ' Hie Paulinus — 627 ' so instilled into our
books, and thence to our minds, that Haworth people may
strive, but strive in vain, to pull us out of the rut. Dews-
bury's 627 may stand, but Haworth's 600 is preposterous:
Paulinus is evidently 'gospel,' but Autest — who was he?

We turn to that lodestone — Domesday Book, compiled
about 1083, and failing to find a Haworth in it — not to men-
tion a Haworth Church, we turn away relieved by the thought
that Domesday is no authority on ecclesiastical matters, and
wofully short in other respects. Gildas and the Venerable Bede
fail to satisfy us, and we are content to pass over the chivalrous
days of our crusading King Richard, the grand achievements
through the signing of Magna Charta, the long reign of
Henry III., and the exploits of the warlike monarch, his son,
before we meet with any authentic notice of a sanctuary at
Haworth. Though written on stone we will not believe it, for
the carver should have given his authority. I should be quite
willing for Haworth to take the superlative degree : His Grace
of York, primate of England, His Grace of Canterbury, primate
of all England, but His Grace of Haworth primate of the primates.

26 ftaworth :

Some contend that Christianity was introduced into
Britain by one or other of the Apostles, or, at latest, during
the first century of this era. Probably some of the Roman
soldiers had heard and received the truths of the Gospel ; but
we leave these disputed points for established facts.

In 314 A.D. three British bishops (York, London, and
Lincoln,) were present at the Synod of Aries, and as it is un-
likely that all the bishops would be in a foreign country, it
would lead us to suppose that the Christian doctrine had met
with a favourable reception. Britain, it is said, profited less
by the humanizing influence of Christianity than other parts of
Europe, owing to the wars with the barbarians, and the rebel-
lions against the Roman governors. It was, moreover, tor-
mented with heretical preachers, of whom Pelagius was the
most formidable (A.D. 429). Little, if any, Christianity could
be found in the country for a century after the Romans left.
Pope Gregory sent . Augustine and other monks to evangelize
amongst the Saxons in 596. • They met with royal favour and
gained many converts, not only in Kent, but in Northumbria.
Paulinus became Archbishop of York in 624. We have al-
ready alluded to the Saxon parish of Dewsbury (God's town),
of which Halifax and Bradford parishes formed at that time a
part. Then a few modest wooden churches appeared, but still
in the vast woods, by the side of clear wells, and around huge
stones, the rude Saxons fondly gathered.

With their religion they mixed up much that was super-
stitious and idolatrous. They imagined that a child born on
the fourth day of the Moon would be a great politician; on
the tenth, a great traveller; on the twenty-first, a bold robber
— and so on. They believed in swarms of elves and fairies,
good and evil. Two places at least, near Halifax, now bear
names indicative of this. One is "Awfe (Elf) House,'' in
Hove Edge. Our common weed, Mugwort (Artemisia), acted
as a charm and magic spell, if kept about the person. They
held sacred, elder and other trees, wells and stones. Any
rriminnl who could reach a frith. ;-plot (plot of laud surrounding

Past and Present. 2?

some holy well, &c,) was secure. The privilege of claiming
sanctuary existed long after Saxon times.

The begging-monks (Dominicans and Franciscans),
shortly after their commencement, became the pests of the
land, partly owing to their number, but more to their impu-
dence. Chaucer says of a friar —

"He was the best beggar in all his hous,
For though a widowe had but a shoo
Yet wolde have a farthing ere he went."

The Cleckhcaton actors of "Joseph and his Brethren" have
precedents in the Franciscans. They performed rude dramatic
exhibitions of Scripture stories in churches, or en stages in
the open air. Religion must have been at its lowest ebb
when, according to Barclay's "Ship of Fools," published
1509, the priests in the Church repeated 'fayned fables,'
'talked of battayles,' and the like, and the people

"While the priest his mass or matin singes,
Are chatting and babbling as it were in a fayre."

Thus gloomy superstition, misery and vice prevailed. Rapa-
cious and immoral monks preyed upon the people. Whatever
they demanded, they got.

"This bag full of straw I bear on my back
Because niy lord's horse his litter doth lack ;
1 f ye be not good to my lord grace's horse,
You are like to go barefoot before the cross."

The priests spent their time hunting and hawking, and when
the disastrous Wars of the Roses commenced, many of them
entered the army.

Excommunication, when a bell was tolled, a book of
appointed offices read, and three candles successively extin-
guished, was feared more than death. Suspension " ab
ingressu ecclesiae " (from entering church) was used as a
threat if the priest's wishes were not complied with. Edward
VI. 's Act is founded on this : — " If any person quarrel, chide,
or brawl in church or churchyard, the ordinary may suspend
him."

John Wicklifie, the " Morning Star of the Refbrwatiou,"

28 . Hau-orth :

was born in the North Riding of Yorkshire, in 1324, and died
in 1884, but probably his tenets took little hold here.

We can scarcely imagine so benighted a condition as that
of our forefathers, so late as 1500. Bells summoned them to
church, but they heard no sermon. They bowed before some
rude picture or ill-carved image, or confessed to some profli-
gate, if not ignorant, priest. There •were no seats in the
churches before the Reformation.

Pilgrimages were highly eulogised, and often imposed.
Accoutred in coarse woollen gown, with a large round hat, a
scrip by his side, a string of beads and a staff — and, perhaps,
barefooted — the pious pilgrim wended his way to some holy
place, supporting himself by begging. Pilgrims returning
from the Holy Land bore a palm, and were received home
with peculiar honours. Elias de Rastrick had a certificate
granted him of having visited Jerusalem. Canterbury was a
noted place for pilgrimages.

The following are the inscriptions on the four Haworth
stones.

On the steeple are two stones placed in juxta-position :

©rattj $. famo

Pro;/ for ye

Soul of
An teat— 600

Above these two stones is another, bearing a coat of amis
of which only a bend and a cross saltier on the lower part can
be deciphered. The arms of Alexander Rishworth were —
Argent, a cross betone fetche sable ; also given in the same
MS. 1367, British Museum, Argent, a bend gules between
eagle displayed in chief vert, and a cross crosslet sable in base.
Dr. Horsfall, Bishop of Ossory, who died there about 1G09,
and his wife (probably a Rishworth,) are buried at the Cathe-
dral of St. Canice, Kilkenny. The monument to their memory
is destroyed, but I have a rubbing of their arms, sent me some

Past and Present. 29

years ago by the Rev. Canon Graves, Hector of Inisnag :
Horsfall — Gules, a bezant, between three horses' beads,
couped argent, bridled azure. The wife's are given — A saltire
engrailed, between four cross crosslets fetche. Sir Cyprian
Horsfall, of Inisuag Castle, was their sou.

Near the steeple, on the west end of the church is another
stone bearing a more explicit statement :

HlC OLIM FUIT MONACHOEUM

CCENOBIUM AD HoNOBEM

SANCTI MICHAELIS, ET OMNIUM

ANGELORUM DICTATUM

AUTESTE FUNDATORE ANNO CHRISTI

SEXCENTESSIMO.

The story of the three black crows is evidently a parallel
case. The first stone is probably a copy of an older one, and
ut the time when this fac-shnile stone was placed there (say
1590,) the curate or some half-classical scholar had the com-
panion stone placed in juxta-position, to serve as a key to the
other. Then, to crown all, the third stone was added, en-
larging upon the other two, and probably added about Mr.
Grimshaw's time. ' Here was formerly a monastery, dedicated
to St. Michael the archangel, founded by Auteste in the year
of Christ, 600.' Within the church, near the vestry door,
this is improved upon to a nicety, where a bell is added to the
original foundation.

This Steeple and the little Bell were
in the year of our Lord 600

Yet, strange to say, this ' little Bell ' bore the inscription,
"Deo altissimis 1664."

There is another difficulty in the fact that no family of
the name, Todd, has been located here for six centuries, so
11 1 r us auv evidence shews. If I were a native, I might be

30

Haworth :

disposed to get over all difficulties by tracing the history of
the Church to the Eustathians, a sect of Christians in the
fourth century, who disallowed the worshipping of saints.

Past and Present. 81

Leaving the fictitious part of our subject, we have no
mean antiquity to offer for Haworth Church. The base of the
steeple, the two cast windows, and the pillars are undoubtedly
very ancient. It is not at all improbable that an oratory was
established here in Norman times, and I have been surprised
to find how frequently Haworth is referred to as a parish in
ancient writings. I am disposed to think, too, that it had the
right of sanctuary, like the cities of refuge of old, and that the
limits of sanctuary were indicated by crosses. At least two
of them remain to the present in name — Cross, at Stanbury,
and Cross, near Oxeuhope Railway Station.

Haworth seems to have been united with Bradford to
form a parish as part of the Lacy fee, though probably Ha-
worth Church is of as early foundation as Bradford.

I have made numerous extracts from the Archbishop's
Registers, and the Wills at York, from 1300, all showing the
antiquity and comparative importance of Haworth Church.
In 1317, a decree was issued commanding the rector and
vicar of Bradford, and the freeholders of Haworth to pay to
the curate of Haworth Chapel the salary due to him in the
proportions to which they had been liable FROM ANCIENT
TIMES. Again, in 1320 a monition was issued from the Arch-
bishop's Court, commanding the rector of Bradford (not an
ecclesiastic, but the owner of the tithes,) to pay to the chap-
lain xxs., the vicar of Bradford to pay two marks and a half,
and the inhabitants of Haworth one mark, to sustain a chaplain
officiating in the chapel of Haworth. The chaplain's income
was further augmented by the founding of a chantry in the
chapel, which was endowed with a messuage and seven acres
of land at Batley and xxs. rent. This took place in 1888.
An Inquisition ad quod dampmim was taken in that year (llth
Edward III,) by Roger de Thornton and eleven others, whereby
they returned that it would NOT be to the damage of the king
if permission were granted to Adam de Batteley to give and
assign a messuage, seven acres of land, and xxs. rent, with
appurtenances, to a certain chaplain, in augmentation of his

32 Haworth:

support, to celebrate divine service for the soul of the said
Adam, and the souls of his ancestors, the souls of Thomas de
Thornton and Ellen his wife, for all whose goods he had ill-
gotten, and all the faithful deceased in the chapel of St.
Michael at Haworth, every day; and the jurors returned that
the messuage and three acres and a half of the land were held
of William de Clayton by knight's service, of Queen Philippa,
arid the remainder held directly of the honor of Pontefract.

Adam de Batteley, alias de Copley, alias de Oxenhope,
founded a chantry in Batley Church. He was probably re-
lated to the de Thorntons.

The Haworth chantry property reverted to the crown on
the dissolution of Chantries, temp. Edw. YI.

JOHN PAWSON, capellanus de Haworth in Craven. His
will contains the following items: 'Ego Johannes Pawson,
caps, de Haworth,' of sound mind, April 13th, 1431, gave his
soul to God Almighty, the Blessed Mary, and All Saints, and
his body to be buried in the cemetery of St. Michael the Arch-
angel de Haworth. His bay horse ' ambulant ' he bequeathed
as a mortuary, and gave vs. to the fabric of the Church at
York. To the hospital at Knaresborough (St. Robert's,)
ijs. for a priest to celebrate for his soul. Johan uxor John de
Rylleston, and Richard de Wy[n]trburn, clerk, executors,
proved the will May 20th. The witnesses were Henry de
Bolton, Will. Mayrnoud, John Pyghtlye, Thorn. Pyghtlye, and
Thorn. Denbye.

The phraseology of the wills previously given indicate the
religious beliefs. In one or two cases protestaut Calvinism
crops out, bis t many retain their ancient Catholic formula.
Haworth had thus early the right of sepulture.

Sm ALEXANDER EMMOTT, probably of the Emmotts of
Emmott Hall, in Haworth, appears as curate of Haworth
before 153(1. He is charged to pray for tho souls of Edmund
Tutyll, 1530, and Thomas Whiteears, 1581. John Emott
WHS witness to a Haworth will in 1546. Sir Alexander left in
1581, or 1532, and weut into Halifax parish. ' Alex. Emote,

Past and Present. 88

preiste,' and ' Sir William Saltonstall, preiste ' were witnesses
to Richard Best's will, Halifax parish, 1537. William
Holmes, of Halifax parish, 1538, commenced his will in the
Protestant formula. He gave to ' Sir Alex. Emot, preist, one
yrne chymney now in the handes of William Brodley by the
water,' and a ' Rowme in the xxvj stall upon the Sowthe sid
of the middle Alley in Halifax Church to Richard Brighouse
of Hipperholme.' From 1589 Dominus Alex. Emmote fre-
quently appears as a surrogate. Wills were proved in his
presence. Richard Sunderland's will, 1537, was proved in
1545 before Dno. Alex. Ernmott, curate de Halifax.

' Sir John Clerk, deaken,' occurs along with Sir Alex.
Ernott, preist, in Whitecar's will, 1531.

SIR JOHN HALIFAX, of the parish of Haworth, seke in
bodie, gave- his soul to our ladie, and his bodie to be buried at
St. Michael's. 'To Mr. George Gargrave my Jacket; to
Margaret my sister, my horse; to Edward Akerode my gown;
to William Allerton myne olde gowue; to Richard Akerode
towc dubletts, a mattres, and three sheits, a saddle and a
hridell; to Grace Ackerode, towe courletts, two shets and a
blanket ; to Thomas Lister a paire of hosse clothe ; to Henry
Ackerode a cloke, and to Anne, his wife, a silver spone; to
Sir John of Watterhouse my bonnett ; to Henry Ackerode my
hatte ; to Henry Scladen a paire of hose ; to Robert Wadds-
worth a paire of hose ; to Sir Thomas Hall towe books ; to
Sir Steveu Smyth towe books ; to Henry Ackerode the rest of
my books; to Isabell wife of Richard Ackerode xx gymbers,
price xxxiijs. iiijd. ; and to the brige, and to bye a grave and
horde xiijs. iiijd. Henry Ackerode and Thomas Lyster were
executors. Sir Steven Smyth and George Gargrave, witnesses,
June 7th, 1540.

John Halifax, canon of Bolton, is mentioned in 1452.

Sri: STKI-HEN SMYTH appears to have succeeded Sir Alex.
Eiimiott as curate at Haworth. He WHS there in 1532, as
shown by the will of Richard Hogden [Ogden, I presume,]
of the chapelry of Haworth, 1532, who directed his body to be

34 HaicortJt :

buried at St. Michael's. The witnesses were Sr. Steven
Smyth and Elyas Bynnys.

The curates generally appear as witnesses, and were
largely engaged in writing wills, being the persons best able to
perform the duties, particularly when written in Latin. Sir
Stephen was witness to Umfri Rishworth's will, 1589, and
Robert Shakilton's, 1543. Sir Robert Sbakilton was a wit-
ness to the latter, and would be a native of the district. Sir
William Mitchell, of Heptonstall, was another who had entered
the priesthood from a local family. Sir was given to such of
the clergy as had not graduated, and Dominus to those who had.

SIR ARTHUR RAWLIXGE, preiste, succeeded to the curacy
about 1544, when he appears as witness in John Dene's will.
In 154(5 and 1552 he occurs again. John Rishworth gave, in
1557, ' to makyng of the CLASSEN wyndowes in the chappell of
Haworth, xvjd;' and his son desired to be buried 'within the
sanctuarie at Haworth,' twelve years later. Sir Arthur
Rawlyn, clarke, of Haworth, was a witness to John Moore's
will in 1574, and in 1577 to Galfrie Wilson's.

By indenture made the 18th day of December, 2 Eliz.,
(1560) between Henry Savile, Thomas Darley, and William
Adame, of Haworth, of the one part, and Andrew Heaton and
Chr. Holmes, of the same chapelry, of the other part, after re-
citing that the inhabitants of Haworth Chapelry had raised the
sum of £36, which said sum, it had been agreed upon by the
inhabitants, should be laid out in the purchase of lands, and
the security of the same be taken and kept on foot, in the
names of some of the principal men of the chapelry, in trust,
to be transferred from time to time in succession to the said
Andrew Heaton and Chr. Holmes, to take and receive the
rents, and pay the same over to the minister, who performed
the usual duties of divine service in Haworth chapel, being
first lawfully licensed and admitted thereunto. The parties of
the first part, in consideration of £36, granted to the said feoffees
all those three messuages or tenements and forty-two acres of
laud, situate at Stanbury, with the appurtenances, this proviso

Past and Prewiii. 85

being made, that if the said Andrew Heaton and Chr. Holmes,
their heirs and successors, or a major part of them, should at
any time thereafter be DEBARRED IN THEIR CHOICE, OR IN THE
NOMINATION OF MINISTER to supply the place when any vacancy
should happen, or if a minister, already licensed and admitted,
be negligent in his duties in the said chapel, or of an infamous
character, or litigious with tho inhabitants of the said chapolry,
11ml then, and in any of tho said cases, it should and might bo
lawful to and for the said fooflees, their heirs and successors, or a
major part of them, to take and receive the rents, issues, and
profits annually growing and arising from the said premises,
and apply and distribute the same to the poor of the said
chapelry, or to any other good and charitable use or uses for the
benefit of all the inhabitants, until such time that a minister
of better merit should be chosen and approved of by the said
feoffees, their heirs and successors, to supply or officiate in the
said chapel.

In 1584, Christopher Hargreaves, of Oxenhope, be-
queathed ' xxs. to the Imyldinge of Haworthe Church when it
should bi> enlarged,' and in 1585, 'Christopher Mychell, of
Haworth, gave xxs. towards the enlarging of Haworth Chappel,
if done within twenty years.' ' These items indicate that there
was some movement towards a re-building, and probably such
took place before 1590.

Richard Horsfall, of Oxenhope, in 1612 purchased 120
acres of land at Weetshaw-bottom in Denholme, and from that
time a branch of that family has been settled in Denholme.
Mr. William Heaton appears as a leading parishioner in the
same year, having his residence at Stanbury. In 1614, Stan-
bury Withens, a place in the parish of Haworth is mentioned.

In 1085 the Free School was established.

In 1637 the tithes of the new land in Haworth, with fifty
shillings per annum of Easter Book proceeds, in connection
with Bradfoid Parish Church, were sold for £260, and in the
following year the tithes of Haworth realized £200.

Abraham Kitchin, (Kitchingman, on a board in the

86 Haworth:

chapel,) by indenture of feoffment, dated the loth of April,
1644, conveyed unto Trustees a messuage called Whinney-
hill, and land in Far Oxenhope ; and directed that they
and their successors should receive out of the rents thereof, a
ten shillings yearly rent-charge, to be paid for the use of the
poor of the parish of Haworth at Martinmas day. The estate
belonged to James Feather, of Far Oxenhope, and for thirty
years previous to the Commissioners' Report, it had not been
paid; but they intimated to the owner the existence and
nature of the charge, and the propriety of his paying it.

EDMUND ROBINSON. A pamphlet containing a sermon
preached by the Rev. Geo. Halley, M.A., Chaplain of York Gaol,
on the 29th of March, 1691, gives some particulars of the life
of this notorious criminal.

" Robinson was born in Colne parish. His father, a con-
siderable husbandman, sent him to school, where he made
great progress in something besides book learning, for I am
creditably informed by an honest gentleman, who was his
schoolfellow, that those base practices which have proved his
ruin then began. He associated with a lad named Gregson,
whose father was a coiner, and the two lads became utterers of
pewter shillings. Gregson took holy orders, and was after-
wards hanged at Lancaster for coining. From school, Robin-
sou went to the University, but was not there long. However,
he got into orders, being ordained by the Bishop of Lichfield,
and went to Holmfirth, where he had a stipend of i'25 a year.
He was there eleven years, and then pretended to leave the
place from some bodily indisposition. He preached, likewise,
for the space of a year at Haworth. This was all the preferment
he had in the church. His life, while a curate, was by no
means suitable to his profession, for he would forge licenses,
and clandestinely marry, and was guilty of many other immor-
alities, for which he was suspended and excommunicated ;
and at last imprisoned upon a "writ excommunicato capienda.
Afterwards he was several times apprehended and tried for his
life, viz., at York, in March IGTb ; acquitted for clipping, but

Past and Prex<-ni. 87

convicted for uttering false money, and fined £20. Again, at
the assizes in 1679, and in 81st Chas. II., he was convicted
of uttering false money, and fined £500. In 1685 he was
tried for coining, and acquitted ; and, lastly, at York, in
-Aliirch, 1601, for coining and clipping. He challenged thirty-
five jurors before he would come to his trial. He was con-
victed and executed on the 31st March, along with nine other
felons. The Rev. Chaplain, who preached to the condemned
prisoners the previous day, observed, " I am heartily sorry that
one who had taken holy orders upon him, (though it is a con-
siderable time since he pretended to an Ecclesiastical office)
should prove a malefactor of this kind, and that some should
make it an accusation against the clergy." Robinson had
married a daughter of Anthony Armitage, of Almondbury, who
brought him property worth £12 a year. She and Benjamin
their son, were tried' at the same assizes as Robinson. She
was acquitted, and the son reprieved at the gallows. To show
the extent of their nefarious dealings, a witness stated that
one Roger Preston, had coined for Robinson to the amount of
£1800 in half a year.''

These parts of the West Riding were infested with coiners
at that and subsequent periods.

I have placed this notice of Robinson here as I cannot
find a spare year from 1658 to the time of his execution, and
I have found no entry at York respecting him.

The Registers at Haworth have been preserved from
1645. On the 17th July, 1646, there is an entry recording a
great tempest, with thunder and lightnings, such as few have
heard or seen.

In 1648, February, John Emmott, alias voc. Shays,
buried. A noise loci ubi natus. This would, probably, be the
Old Hall, known as Emmott Hall, a sketch of which, from the
east, is given on p. 88. Under this year is an entry recording a
battle between Cromwell and the Scots, when the latter were,
by God's assistance, routed. Also a great fall of snow on
Fastens Even which continued till the last week of the same winter.

EMMOTT HALL (EAST VIEW).

February 25th, 1649, two suns appeared on either side
of the true sun, making three in all.

1652. Such a drought between and the first week

in June that during that season, only one shower. Notwith-
standing there was a good harvest.

August 20th, there was a storm of wind and hail, some
shaped like spur rowels. It was the effect of the conjunction
of Saturn and Mars in Leo. There were two crops of bil-
berries.

Evidently astrology was cultivated at Haworth then, as it
has been in later times.

1653. — JOHN COLLIER officiated as perpetual curate, but,
in common with some other neighbouring churches, little order

Past and Present. 89

in church affairs prevailed. The Haworth Register of 1658
has the following curious entry : "A gentleman named Keesbey
and the relict of one Mr. Gates, being sister of John Midgley,
of Headley, married by a man like a minister, whom they brought
along with them." Rev. Win. Midgley, of Headley in Thorn-
ton, curate of Sowerby, died in 1706, aged 34. Mr. James
suggests that Mr. Collier was probably suspended by the Par-
liamentary Commissioners, and re-instated ten years afterwards,
as we find under date August, 1662 — " Timothy, sou of Kev.
John Collier, buried :

Si qua Fata aspera rumpus

Tu Marcellus eris, Deus dedit et abstulit."

1674, June 28th, Mr. John Collier, sou. of Mr. Jo. Col-
lier, aged twenty years, buried.

Upon a gravestone, formerly in the churchyard, Mr.
Collier, who was buried there October 10th, 1675, was de-
scribed as ' Laureate,' indicating that, besides being a classical
scholar, he was a poet. The fragment that remains of this
stone is reared against the pulpit.

IOHN COL
LAVREAT
SON : TO :
MINIST

This raises the question whether the son was not the poet.
There are some entries in Bradford Church Registers respect-
ing Mr. Collier's family. He was probably a native of the
district. The Rev. Jeremy Collier was a native of Yeadon,
where the family has been seated four centuries nearly.

1654. — The Register states that MR. EDWARD GARFORTH
began to officiate as minister at Haworth, by commission from
the Commissioners at London, ordained and empowered for
settling and approbation of public preachers (he having been
first approved of, and recommended unto them by the certifi-
cate of most of the substantial inhabitants of the said parochial
chapelry of Haworth) on the 12th June this year.

H..I-.KKT TOWY, SENIOR.

40 Haworth :

The Parliamentary Survey, 1655, records — " Haworth
Chappell is distant from its parish church seaven myles. Mr.
Robert Towne is mynister there, being a constant preacher of
God's word, and hath for his sallarye twenty-seaven pounds
thirteene shillings and foure pence p. imn. arysing out of lands
allotted for that use." It was recommended by the Commis-
sioners to constitute it a parish church.

Mr. Town had previously been minister at Elland. The
Rev. Oliver Heywood, of Coley, (1652) writes :— " At Elland
was old Mr. Robert Town, the famous Antinomian, who writ
some books ; he was the best scholar and soberest man of that
judgment in the country, but something unsound in principles.
He removed: lived and died not long ago a Nonconformist."
Daniel Towne, his son, an extreme Calvinist, was minister at
Heptonstall.

On the 24th of August, 1062, by the Act of Uniformity,
Robert Town, senior, was ejected from Haworth. The Regis-
ter there records his burial, June, 1664, " Robert Town, some
time minister of Haworth." He was then about seventy years
of age.

There is also the entry under the year 1655 in the Regis-
ter : — There was a continual wet summer, so that most of the
hay was generally got in the middle of September.

1656. — The bridge at Brighouse, in Haworth, repaired
with new timber and stone heads.

The Sessions Rolls, and Book of Bridges give numerous
similar records.

During the Protectorate, publications of banns of mar-
riages were frequently made at the nearest market placte,
according to an Act passed in 1653, when it took the form of
a civil contract, and was performed before a magistrate.

In my "Nonconformity in Idel " are a few notes taken
from Bingley Churchwardens' Book, illustrating the customs
of the ' Exercises ' so popular at Halifax and other places.

1651. — 13 Aprill, ffor meate and drinkewhen Mr. Towr.e
preached, 4s.

Pant and Present. 41

Meat and drink to Jane Wright when Mr. Towne and Mr.
Taylor preacht, 6s. 6d.

When both Mr. Townes preached, 6s. 8d.

For both Mr. Townes, 5s.

To Jane Wright when both Mr. Townes preacht, 5s.

1658.— Payd att an Excercizefor both Mr. Townes 2s. 8d.

Old Mr. Town preaching two sermons on Lord's Day,
Is. 3d.

Mr. Town preached Lord's Day, Is.

Excercize for both Mr. Townes, November 7, 2s. 4d.

Mr. Town younger, preaching Saboath day, Is.

1654. — Excercize, Mr. Town preacht, March 31, 2s.

1658. — Old Mr. Towne preacht in the absence of our
vicar, Is. 8d.

1661. — Mr. Collier preached 19 June, 6s.

1668. — Mr. Townes [junior] preached, 2s. 6d.

Mr. Kobbinson preached, 4s.

In 1660, the number of persons assessed to the Poll Act
within Haworth Constabulary was 490, which included all the
Inhabitants over fifteen years of age, except a few paupers.
The amount of the tax was £35, and the total rent of the lands
and mills, &t the same time was £1,020. The population in
the same year may be roughly verified by the entries in the
Register, multiplied by the generally accepted numbers.
There were twenty-six baptisms, three marriages, and eight
burials. I suppose the population would be about 700.

In 1663, the REV. JOHN COLLIER again appears as curate,
having resumed office on the ejection of Mr. Town. In 1664,
eight persons were sent to Halifax Corrections, and afterwards
excommunicated for non-appearance, viz., seven men for not
coming to church, and a woman for fornication.

In 1665, Dugdale, at his visitation, acknowledged the
right of Mr. John Ramsden, of Haworth, gentleman, to coat-
armour. He was father of Mr. Joseph Ramsden, of Crowstone,
near Halifax, (who died in 1698,) whose widow Elizabeth, nee
Finch, grand-daughter of William Horton, Esq., of Barkisland,

p

42 Haworth :

married, secondly, Sir Richard Musgrave, Bart. Thomas
Ramsden, Esq., high sheriff in 1726, was son of Joseph and
Elizabeth Rarnsden.

In 1665, the following inhabitants of Haworth were charged
with recusancy before the West Riding magistrates : — Christo-
pher Holmes, Joseph Smith, William Clayton, William
Clayton, junior, John Clayton, junior, John Pighills, John
Taylor, Jonas Turner, and Nathan Heaton. They were prob-
ably Protestant Dissenters, and not Roman Catholics.

We meet with one tradesman's token :
SAMUEL OGDEN, HAWORTH.
[A Tankard.]

I WILL EXCHANGE MY PENNY.
1670.

1675, November, the REV. EDMUND MOORE entered as
curate of Haworth, and in 1684 his death is recorded : — Mr.
Edmund Moore departed this life July llth. There were
several clergymen of the name of Moore. Robert Moore was
vicar of Guiseley ; his son, ' the good old puritanical minister
of Guiseley, who diligently and faithfully served the cure sixty-
three years.' Mr. Moore, of Baildon, was ejected in 1662,
but afterwards conformed, and was curate at Coley for six
months, 1671-2. Edmund Moore nou ita pridem colleg. xpi
alumns. apd. cant. & curate Baildon, 1663.

Dec. 20th, 1663, Mr. Oliver Heywood, ejected from Coley
1662, went to hear Mr. Moore, of Baildon, at Coley, a reputed
Antinomian. The churchwarden opposed his attendance in vain.

He was the one who settled at Haworth. The Bingley
Wardens' Book has :

1651. — Mr. Moore preached, 2s. 6d.

1(558. — When Mr. Moore preached at our church, Is. 6d,

Mr. Heywood notes in his diary a long drought in April
and May, 1681, when the moors of Haworth and Marsden
were on fire.

Mr. James supposes that Pdcluinhon Middlcton held the
curacy because he signed a certificate of marriage in May,

/'«.s/ and 1'rcsrnt. 43

1680, but I think this unlikely. He may have been assistant
for a time on account of Mr. Moore's indisposition.

The importance of Haworth, in 1679, as one of the town-
ships of Bradford parish may be surmised from the heavy pro-
portion (one-fifth) of the whole parish church lay.

1684.— On the death of Mr. Moore, the REV. Richard
Margerison, A.B., was licensed to the curacy of Haworth,
September 22nd. During his time we find traces that Dissent,
consequent, no doubt, on the ejection of 1662, and the spread
of Quaker tenets, had taken root in Haworth.

On the 13th of June, 1672, the Rev. Oliver Heywood, of
Coley, paid his first visit to Haworth. He describes it as a
very immoral and profane place, where there had never been
good preaching. He preached at the house of Jonas Foster,
to a very large assembly. Mr. Heywood never failed to leave
his mark for good, and so we find him looked upon by certain
people at Haworth as their ' bishop,' and he occasionally paid
them a visit. On the 28th of March, 1692, he makes the fol-
lowing remarks : —

" I rode to preach at J. R.'s, in Haworth town. God
greatly assisted my heart in weeping and wrestling with him
for the conversion of sinners, and in preaching on Isaiah Iv. 7.
There was a great crowd of people, and they were attentive.
Who knows what good may be done ? The same day, being
Easter Monday the Vicar of Bradford sat all day in an ale-
house there, gathering his Easter dues, in Haworth parish.
There was wont always to be a sermon in the church that day,
but Mr. Pemberton had laid it aside. Many flocked to him to
pay their Easter reckonings, which came to about £10, and
then came to hear me. I had nothing for my pains, except
some four or five put sixpence a-piece into my hand. I rode
fourteen miles there and back, and was greatly comforted in
my day's work, and thought it was better than his. Though my
worldly gains were short, yet, may I gain one soul to Christ
by my hard labour, and I shall be satisfied."

This observation wab hardly worthy so ^juud a man as

44 Hairorth :

Mr. Heywood, and happily against it a hundred excellent ob-
servations from his diary can be placed. The J. R. was John
Rhodes, who obtained at Knaresbro' Sessions, October, 1690,
permission to hold religious services in his house.

In 1692, Mr. Heywood notes : " J. Rhodes, of Haworth,
told me of a man near Colne, wrought upon by a sermon I
preached at Holmes Chapel, two or three years ago, who is
now very serious.''

I find the following notices in the Session Rolls, entered
in accordance with the Toleration Act. George Fox had
gained very many converts in the West Riding, and very
severely they suffered for their dissent, as ween in Besse's
" Sufferings of the Quakers."
Oct. 10th, 1689, the house of James Smith, Haworth, was

registered on the application of James Smith.
July, 1693, at Leeds Sessions, the house of Thomas Fether, of
Northis, in Haworth, recorded as a dissenting meeting-
place. Signed — Thomas ffether, John Holmes, Robert
Heaton, Nicholas Dickson, Michael Pighells, Christopher
Holmes, George ffether, John Moore, Joseph Pighells.
At Leeds, July, 1696, the houses of William Clayton and
Jonas Smith, Haworth, registered for the Society of
Friends, commonly called Quakers.

It is probable • that Mr. Robinson was curate here after
Mr. Margerison. He had been assistant at Holmfirth for
eight years, and for three more (1685-8) held the curacy
there, but was suspended, according to Burton Parish Regis-
ter, in 1688. A cellar at Over Brockholes (or Bank End)
was shown as the place where he carried on his coining. His
son, aged 18, was reprieved, and sent to the Royal Mint,
where, it is said, he acquired an ample fortune.

The REV. TIMOTHY ELLISON was curate of Melthani, near

Huddersfield, in 1674, when he certifies to certain interments

where the body was wrapped in woollen as per a recent statute.

July 23rd, 1882, he settled at Coley and was there till

1702. He was a native of Prescot, in Lancashire, and of

Past and Present. 45

Puritan extraction. He " prayed well, preached zealously,
and lived honestly. The people flocked to hear him and were
much affected." Heywood's MSS.

The York Presentation Books give : — Timothy Ellison,
clieus, A.M., licensed to the curacy of Coley, September 29th,
1682. Timo. Ellisonne admitted curate of Haworth May 21st,
1702. Mr. Oliver Heywood frequently attended service at
Coley under Mr. Ellison's ministry, and they were 011 friendly
terms. Mr. Nathaniel Heywood, of Ormskirk, often preached
ut the house of Mr. Ellison's father. Timothy Elisoue, clerk,
curate of Coley, 1701, was charged at the visitation with bury-
ing persons in the chapellyard, being not consecrated.

" Hannah, daughter of Mr. Ellison, minister att Otlay,
buried at Bradford, June 4, 1642." Probably no relation to
the former.

1703. — The REV. WILLIAM CLIFFORD, clerk, was admitted
June 2nd, having been elected by the inhabitants, with the
consent of the Vicar of Bradford. He had been a member of
St. John's College, Cambridge, and became curate of Light-
cliffe, near Halifax, in 1678. The Hartishead Register con-
tains the entry of his marriage, August 28th, 1679 : " Mr.
William Clifforth, curate of Lightcliffe, to Susan Thorpe."
Married at Hartishead. The Thorpes were an influential
family at Hipperholme. Halifax Parish Register records the
baptism of two of his children : — Susannah, baptized in 1680,
and Grace in 1681. Also the burial of ' the wife of Mr.
William Cliffe, curate of Haworth, buried at Halifax, in 1723.'
I have several times seen his name written Cliffe. Mr.
Wright, in the preface to his History of Halifax, 1738, says,
" A late learned clergyman, Mr. William Clifford, M.A., has
been heard to say that this severe custom (gibbeting,) was
granted to preserve the King's deer in the forest of Hard wick."
In the Northowrarn Register it is stated that Mr. Clifford
resigned Haworth owing to old age, and lived many years at
Northowram, where he died April 18th, 1732, and was interred
at Halifax. The Archbishop '6 Buoks at York give the admis-

46 HawortJi :

sion of Mr. William Clifford, A.B., deacon, October 7th, 1G7B.
He was ordained priest the same year.

1680, William Clifford, clerk, Lightcliffe, charged with
not receiving the Lord's Sapper at Easter.

1715, Mr. William Clifford, clergyman, Shelf, called upon
to take the oath of allegiance. It seems from this that he was
considered a disaffected person.

Collected in ye Chappell of Lightcliffe : —

Aug. 27, 1084, upon ye brief of Warsop, ye sum of
3s 3d. Witness us William Clifford, Cur. ibid, John Sharppe,
chappill warden.

Oct. 26, 1684, upon ye brief of St. Maries Parish, Ely,
Is 9d (witnesses— the same).

Feb. 5, 1687, upon ye brief of Stairbottom, in ye gift of
Kettlewell co. York, us 5d. Witness us William Clifford cur.
ibid, James Leake, warden.

April 27, 1688, upon ye second brief for ye French Pro-
testants, ye sunarn of eleven shillings (Witnesses — the same).

These entries remind us of days when Insurance Societies
were unknown, and when collections were ordered to be made
in all places of worship (dissenters' as well) for those who had
suffered from fire and other disasters.

1726. Sep. 3rd. MR. JACKSON buried. Mr. James
supposes him to have been a curate, and it seems likely, as
Mr. Clifford resided at Shelf in 1715, but I have not met with
his license. The Rev. Jeremiah Jackson was Lecturer at the
Parish Church, Bradford, in 1719.

In Mr. Holroyd's Collectanea is a list of the owners of
seats in Bradford Church, 1705. We thus get a summary
view of the land owners at that date.
HAWORTH.

Mr. Midgley, for his land and School land... four.

The Heirs of Mr. Ramsden and of Widow

Holdsworth five.

Mr. John Holmes, of Yeadon, for his land... two.

The Heirs of Collier and Joseph Pighill's land four.

Past and Present. 47

Thomas Midgley's land .'. one.

James Hartley, Hall Green one.

James Rishworth, Strobbing one.

John Greenwood, Brighouse one.

Caleb Heaton and Smith's land of the Intack one.

Michael Pighill's and John Wright l£.

Henry and John Ickoringill's lands j.

OXENHOPE.

John Holmes, of Old Oxenhope four.

Mr. Robert Ferrand and Mr. Francis Lyndley two.

Joseph Rishworth and Benjamin Rath two.

Richard Pighills... 8*. Titus Mitchell f.

John Heaton ... H. Martha Feather l£.

Michael Pighill's land one.

Robert Beaton's laud and Joseph Crabtree's one.

Thomas Rishworth and Parkinson's lands ... one.

Widow Hartley and John Mitchell's land ... one.

Mr. Pollard... £. Tim. Horsfall's land ... £.
Bernard Hartley, John Pighills and John

Sutcliff two.

Widow Sutclift' and Buckley lands

Jonas Horsfall and William Ogden's lands... three.
John Roberts |-, and Jonas Horsfall of Yait.

Thomas Whitaker and heirs of Samuel Midgley two.

John Murgatroyd's laud one.

Jonas Foster, junior, ditto one.

Michael Ogdeu, Joseph Ogden, and William

Haigh's lands one.

James Hartley, James Rawson and Jonas

Driver's lands two.

Joshua Feather, John Rishworth and John

AVhitaker's land two.

Michael Hartley and Thomas Ackroyd's land one.

Jonas Haigh... i. Abm. Farrer's land ^.

John Driver, Michael Driver, John Hartley

and Joseph Ogden's lands two.

48 Ilairorth:

Jonas Foster, Jonas Rishworth and Tiin.

Mitchell's lands one.

Heirs of Matthew Foster, Jeremy Pearson,
Ismael Ogden, Jonas Haigh and

Matthew Brjggs' laud two.

Christopher Holmes, John Greenwood, and
John Heaton, of Lame Close,

lands one.

STANBURY.

Robert Heaton and Andrew Heaton three.

Robert Heaton, junior, George Taylor, and

Peter Heatou for Hill Top lands one.
William Heaton, James Rawson, and John

Wilson's lands two.

Nicholas Dixon and Utley lauds two.

Widow Taylor, half, and Wm. Midgley's lands two.
N. Midgley, of Old Field, and Church lands three.
John Pighills, wheelwright, and Crabtree lands two.
Robert Pighills, Robert Taylor, John Holmes,

and John Hanson's lands two.

John Redman, Robert Clayton, and Nathan-
iel Dixon, Coldknowe lands one.

James Smith's lauds one.

John Clayton and Michael Moorhouse, of

Moorhouse lands one.

David Midgley, Esq., by will, dated 5th March, 1723,
devised, after the death of his wife, a messuage and thirty acres
of land, at Withens, in Haworth, unto trustees, to the intent
that they should yearly on Martinmas day, out of the rents,
clothe with good blue clothes and other necessary wearing
apparel, ten poor children under seven years of age, of the
township of Haworth, to be chosen by the trustees for the
tiuie being. The property lets for about ,1'fjO per annum, and
has, since Mr. Midgley's death, been considered as private,
and sold as such, subject to the said charge. The Ferrands
now hold the property. Thy children :'.re chosen by the

t'ast and /.'resent. 49

chapelwardens of Haworth, with the concurrence of the owner
of the estate. The boys receive each a coat, waistcoat and
hreeches, of blue cloth ; and the girls a blue cloth jacket, two
petticoats, a blue cap, and a pair of blue stockings.

In 1785 Mr. Richard Pollard gave, by will, (inter alia,)
out of his estate at Bradford, 50s. per annum to the poor of
Haworth and Stanbury, to be distributed on Christmas Day.
This was to be paid by Thomas Pighells, and George . Taylor,
and their heirs. A stone in the churchyard records the burial
of Mr. Richard Pollard, of Stanbury, August 25th, 1735, aged 69.

1726. Isaac Smith, M.A., son of the Rev. Matthew
Smith, of Mixendeu, succeeded in 1726. He made the fol-
lowing entiy in the Register — "Isaac Smith came to Haworth
to be minister there, October 2nd, 1726, and raised the church
rents vi et armis."

The books at York record his presentation, September
26th, 1726, when a deacon, on the nomination of the Rev.
Benj. Kennet, Vicar of Bradford.

In 1729 he rebuilt the church barn at the cost of £20, and
erected a church clock which cost£ 8, of which he paid one-half.
It is also recorded that on " May 15th, 1739, at six o'clock in
the evening, the house in Haworth, called the parsonage, was
solemnly dedicated and so named, with prayers, aspersions,
acclamations, and crossings, by J. S." Another entry in the
Register records — " That theretofore there had boen a corrupt
custom, after receiving the sacrament, for the church officers
to dine in an alehouse with the minister; but the custom was
altered, and instead, on Christmas-day and Good Friday, they
were to go together, after divine service, to some alehouse to
take a moderate repast." It would seem that he was some-
what of a reformer, and encountered some opposition which he
had to suppress ri <>1 xnnifi. There is still another entry of a
personal character made by him: -"16 Mar. 1737. The
Rev. Isaac Smith was suspended from his ministerial functions,
for publishing and marrying a couple from Bradford parish, till
Whit-Sunday, 1711, on -hich d;: hu resumed."

50 Hairortlt :

The Register states — " These following were married by
the clog and shoe in Lancashire, hut paid the minister of
Haworth his dues.1' Mr. Smith then adds sixteen names.

" Henry Hallewell takes the grass in the church yard for
15 Ib. of candles, three in the lb., every year, to be used for lights
at six o'clock prayers, and burying the dead, when occasion
requires."

" One of the duties of the clerk is to ring the great bell
at eight a.m. every Sunday, announcing thereby the day of the
the month, by causing the bell to strike as many times as days."

Mr. Smith was buried at Haworth, December 19th, 1741.

Under date December llth, 1739, the York Presentation
Book gives — " Joseph Keighley, assistant curate of Haworth,
on the nomination of Isaac Smith, clerk, curate."

Of the three bells, formerly in Haworth Steeple, the third
was purchased in 1741, and baptized Great Tim.

Mr. Isaac Smith had evidently some peculiar ideas, and
considering the training he had received it is somewhat sur-
prising that he should have become a church clergyman at all.
His father figured very prominently as a dissenter, and besides
labouring indefatigably as an itinerant evangelist, educated a
few young men for the ministry, among whom were two of his
sons, — John, who settled at Warley some years before his
father's death, and Isaac, who conformed and settled at
Haworth. The Rev. Matthew Smith refused an offer of a
benefice in the Church of England of the value of £200 per
annum, and wrote to the offerer thanking him for his generous
proposals. He graduated in the University of Edinburgh,
where he took his degree of M.A. He was born at York, in
1650, and after staying a short time at Kipping, in Thornton,
became minister at Mixenden. Joseph Lister's Autobiography
gives many interesting notices of him. He afterwards divided
his labours mainly between the congregations of Mixenden and
Warley. There was some difference on doctrinal matters
between him and Mr. Heywood in, or before, 1099, which are
stated and defended in his " Treatise on the True Nature of

Past and Present. 51

\

Imputed Righteousness," published in 1700. This book
created considerable clamour. He describes himself as
' neither a Calvinist nor an Arminian, but one that treats in
media via.' He married the daughter of Lieutenant Sharp,
of Horton, cousin to the Rev. T. Sharp, of Leeds. Mr. Smith
suffered much from persecution ; he preached at uncertain
hours, often in the night ; but though soldiers were frequently
sent to apprehend him, he always escaped. He was the
means of establishing several dissenting ' causes ' in the vil-
lages around. He died in 1786, aged 86. His life, prefixed
to his " Sermons," was published by his son, the Rev. John
Smith, of Bradford, who became an Arian. A grandson of
the Rev. Matthew Smith became minister at Selby.

1742. William Grimshaw, B.A., succeeded Mr. Smith.
He made the following entry in the Register : — Rev W. Grim-
shaw, A.B., of Christ's College, Cambridge, succeeded the
Rev. Isaac Smith, M.A., deceased in the parochial curacy of
Haworth, May 16th, 1742, having been minister of the paro-
chial curacy of Tochnorden ten years and nine months. He
was born at Brindle, near Preston ; some time educated at the
Freo School of Blackburn, by Mr. George Smith, head master
thereof for some years, but was afterwards removed to the
Free School of Heskin, and put under the care of Mr. Thomas
Johnson, head master thereof, and from thence was sent to be
admitted a member of the University and College above-
mentioned."

The Presentation Book at York has the following entry :
"Win. Grimshaw, clerk, B.A., 23 June, 1742, licensed to
Curacy of Haworth on momu- of Benj Kennett, Vicar of Brad-
ford, John Greenwood, Abm. Mitchell, Thos. Pighells, Michael
Heaton Michael Pighells, Geo. Taylor, Wra. Greenwood, John
Appleyd. Jonas Horsfall, Trustees for said chappel."

Mr. James remarks that "Mr. Grimshaw may be consi-
dered one of the most hard-working and conscientious clergy-
men of his age, in the north of England. The labours he
accomplished in the way of preaching, and other religious

52 iiau-orl/i :

exercises, iu bis o\vu Chapelry, and neighbouring parishes, are
extraordinary. He was one of the most enthusiastic disciples
of John Wesley, who often preached in Haworth Church and
the churchyard to overflowing congregations. Though Mr.
Grimshaw, on many occasions, exhibited more zeal than judg-
ment, yet he was much respected by all parties in Haworth,
and succeeded, though often by the persuasion of a horse- whip,
in putting down there many rank vices." His popularity so
increased the congregation that it was necessary to enlarge the
church, which was accomplished in 1755. The Register
records that — " 1763, April 7th, Rev. William Grimshaw died
at Sowdens near Haworth, after twenty years spent in preach-
ing early and late, with great success."
Memoirs of the Life of the late Rev. William Grimshaw, A.B.,

Minister of Haworth, in the West Riding of the County

of York, by JOHN NEWTON, Rector of St. Mary, Wool-

noth. 12 mo. pp. 187. London, 1799.

It has been reprinted numerous times, but the most
curious edition is one printed by John Greenwood, at Haworth,
a few years ago, which has two or three different shades of
paper. Mr. Spence Hardy published a ' Life,' and Mr. W.
Myles published another.

In justice to the first biographer of Mr. Grimshaw, we
will use bis own words, as addressed to the Rev. Henry
Foster. As a plea for the length of the quotations, allow me
to say that, personally, I look upon Mr. Grimshaw's ministry
as the grandest period in the history of Haworth Church.
The good accomplished is incalculable.

Mr. Grimshaw was born at Briudle, near Preston, on the
8d of Sept. 1708. He was admitted a member of Christ's
College, Cambridge, in his eighteenth year. He was ordained
Deacon in 1731. Yet he loved jovial company, days of high
living and boisterous jollity. His delight was in hunting,
fishing, and playing at cards. About 1734 he was powerfully
awakened to a sense of his duty, and after some years of re-
lleetiou aud (struggles he attained to gospel freedom. After

Past and Present. 53

four years of married life, he lost his wife in 1789. He was
her third husband, and was greatly attached to her. In 1742
he settled at Haworth. Mr. Newton (Cowper's friend) copies
Mr. Grimshaw's dedication of himself to the Lord's service.
One passage in it reads : " Thou knowest, 0 Lord, I solemnly
covenanted with Thee, in the year 1738 ; and before that
wonderful manifestation of Thyself unto me, at church, and in
the clerk's house, between the hours of ten and two o'clock on
Sunday Sept. 2, 1744, I had again solemnly devoted myself
to thee on Aug. 8, 1744. And now once more and for ever,
I most solemnly give up, devote and resign all I am, spirit,
soul and body, to Thee, and to thy pleasure and command, in
Christ Jesus, my Saviour, this 4th of December 1752."

" I renewed this solemn Dedication in a most awful
manner 5th of June, 1760. 0 that I may carefully remember
and keep it !

"I purpose to renew this Dedication with a quarterly
fast, the first Friday in January, April, July, and October,
during life."

" The best account I have met with of the incident to which
Mr. Grimshaw refers on Sept. 2, 1744, and which I think may
be credited, was given by a person who then lived with him as
a servant, to the following purport : That she was called up
that morning at five o'clock, but found her master was risen
before her, and was retired into a private room for prayer.
After remaining there some time, he went to a house in
Haworth, where he was engaged a while in religious exercises
with some of his people, he then returned home and retired
for prayer again, and from thence to church. She
believes he had not eaten any thing that morning. While
reading the second lesson he fell down ; he was soon helped,
aud led out of the church. He continued to talk to the people
as he went, and desired them not to disperse, for he hoped he
should return to them soon, and he had something extra-
ordinary to say to them. They led him to the clerk's house,
where he lay seemingly insensible. She, with others, were em-

54 Haworih :

ployed in rubbing bis limbs (which were exceedingly cold, with
warm cloths. After some time, he came to himself, and seemed
to be in a great rapture. The first words he spoke were,
1 1 have had a glorious vision from the Third Heaven.' But
she does not remember that he made any mention of what he
had seen. In the afternoon he performed service in the
church, which began at two o'clock, and preached and spoke
so long to the people, that it was seven in the evening before
he returned home.

" Haworth is a small village about nine or ten miles from
Halifax, and nearly the same distance from Bradford, in the
West Riding of Yorkshire. You know the place much better
than I, but I mention it for the information of others. It is
one of those obscure places, which, like the fishing towns in
Galilee favoured with our Lord's presence, owe all their cele-
brity to the gospel. The name of Haworth, would scarcely be
known at a distance, were it not connected with the name of
Grimshaw. The bleak and barren face of the adjacent country
was no improper emblem of the state of the inhabitants ; who
in general had little more sense of religion than their cattle,
and were wild and uncultivated like the rocks and mountains
which surrounded them. By the blessing of God upon Mr.
Grimshaw's ministry, this desert soon became a fruitful field,
a garden of the Lord, producing many trees of righteousness,
planted by the Lord himself, and the barren wilderness rejoiced
and blossomed like the rose.

" The tenor and energy of Mr. Grimshaw's preaching soon
engaged the attention of his hearers. Some of these had
seldom thought it worth their while to enter the doors of a
church ; and those who had attended public worship, had as
seldom heard any thing more from the pulpit, than cold lec-
tures upon lean, modern morality. But he commanded their
attention. His heart was engaged, he was pressed in spirit,
he spoke with earnestness and authority, as one who was well
assured of the truth and importance of his message. Nor did
he long speak in vain.

Past and Present, 55

" There are four hamlets in the parish of Haworth, and as
in them there were persons whom age, sickness, distance, or
prejudice, prevented from attending at church, he considered
them all as belonging to his charge, and was unwilling that
any of them should perish in ignorance. He therefore went
to them who could not, or would not, come to him, teaching
and exhorting them from house to house ; and preaching in a
more public way in the houses where he was invited. Hearers
flocked to him from adjacent, and in a short time from more
distant, places. And when strangers were effectually wrought
upon by his words, they of course felt a strong attachment to
him themselves, and a concern for their neighbours.

" His zeal, and his desire to be useful to the souls of men,
made him readily accept invitations to visit and preach in
other parishes. Thus the line of his service was gradually
extended. His constitution was streng, his health firm, his
spirits good, and his zeal ardent. He was able to bear much
fatigue and hardship, and he did not spare himself. The love
of Christ constrained him. Without intermitting his stated
services at home, he went much abroad. In a course of time
he established two circuits, which, with some occasional varia-
tions, he usually traced every week, alternately. One of
these, he often pleasantly called his idle week, because he
seldom preached more than twelve or fourteen times. His
sermons in his working or busy week, often exceeded the
number of twenty-four, and sometimes amounted to thirty.

" An itinerant preacher, especially an itinerant clergyman,
was a character little known previous to the rise of Methodism.
He was perhaps the very first man in Yorkshire, whose zeal
prompted him to preach in the parish of another minister,
without his express consent. Bxt in so doing, he did not break
through those stipulations and engagements to be regular,
which it has been thought proper in succeeding times, to re-
quire from many candidates for holy orders. The circumstances
which gave occasion for such restrictions did not then exist.
Nor did he go abroad unasked. The visible effects of his

56 Haimrtlt :

ministry at home, engaged his neighbours to solicit his assist-
ance. He neither could, nor would, nor did he dare to deny
them, when he saw in many places,

"The hungry sheep look up, but were not fed.

" The providence of God favoured him in the attempt. For
though unsupported by great patronage, and unsolicitous to
obtain it ; and though he went far beyond all his cotempor-
aries in this novel and offensive method, by which much envy,
jealousy, and displeasure, were excited against him ; yet he
was not restrained. Nor have I heard that he met with any
serious and determined marks of disapprobation from his
superiors in the church. But he sometimes met with opposi-
tion from those who hated to be reformed. He Avas once
disturbed by a set of rioters, who, it is said, were hired for
the purpose, when preaching at Colne in Lancashire ; and the
minister of the parish preached a sermon against him, and
afterwards printed it ; this gave occasion to the only publica-
tion which I have heard attributed to Mr. Grimshaw. It was
printed at Preston in the year 1749, and entitled, An Answer
to a Sermon published against the Methodists, by the Rev.
Mr. George White, M.A., Minister of Colne and Marsden in
Lancashire, by the Rev. William Grimshaw, Minister of
Haworth, Yorkshire. It is reported and believed in that
neighbourhood, that Mr. White, when on his dying bed, sent
for Mr. Grimshaw, expressed his concern for having opposed
him, and was perfectly reconciled to him. But in the latter
years of his ministry, his character and motives were so gener-
ally known, that he was respected not only by the pious, but
the profane ; he lived down all outward opposition, and there
was scarcely a person within the circle of his connexions,
which was not a small one, who, however different from him in
principles or in practice, did not believe but that Mr. Grim-
shaw was upright in his professions and aims, and a friend to
mankind.

" But it was thought that his success was not so visible
and extensive in his own parish, as amongst the numbers who

Past and Present. 57

flocked to his church from other places : he had hearers who
came statedly from the distance of ten or twelve miles, for a
course of years, and were seldom prevented either by severe
weather, or bad roads.

" In the summer season, Haworth was frequently visited by
people from a still greater distance. When Mr. Wesley or
Mr. Whitneld, and other eminent ministers have been there,
the congregation usually consisted of many thousands. The
communicants, on these occasions, were more than the church
(which was not a small one) could contain at once ; and while
divine service was repeately performed within the walls, a suc-
cession of sermons, with some intervals, were preached in the
course of the day, to the people in the church-yard, who could
not attend in the church for want of room. These exercises
were confessedly irregular, but there was at that time a great
dearth of gospel knowledge.

" But though Mr. Grimshaw often preached to great num-
bers, he was a no less attentive servant to a few. When any were
willing to hear, he was ready to preach, and he often cheerfully
walked miles in the winter, in storms of wind, rain, or snow,
upon lonely unsheltered moors, to preach to a small company
of poor, aged, decrepit people, in a cottage.

" In a word, he was a burning and a shining light. His
zeal was not an angry, unhallowed, fire, nor the blind impulse
of a heated imagination, nor was it ostentatious. It was the
bright flame of that love, which his knowledge of the love of
Christ had kindled in his heart. This love constrained him
to such unusual and unwearied endeavours to make others as
happy as he was himself, that perhaps he was thought beside
himself, by those whose religion consisted in a form of godli-
ness destitute of power.

" If the doctrine which ascribes the whole of a sinner's
salvation, from the first dawn of liijlit, the first motion of
spiritual life in the heart, to its full accomplishment in victory
over the last enemy, be Calvinism, I think Mr. Grimshaw was
a Calvinist. But I am not sure that he thought himself so.

I

58 ttaworth:

And many Calvinists would scarcely have acknowledged his
claim to that name, if he had made it.

" The last time I was with him, as we were standing
together upon a hill near Haworth, and surveying the romantic
prospect around us, he expressed himself to the following pur-
port, and I believe I nearly retain his very words, for they
made a deep impression upon me while he spoke. ' When I
' first came into this country, if I have gone half a day's
'journey on horseback towards the east, west, north, and
1 south, I could not meet with or hear of one truly serious
' person — and now, through the blessing of God upon the poor
' services of the most unworthy of his ministers, besides a
' considerable number whom I have seen or known to have
' departed this life like Simeon, rejoicing in the Lord's salva-
' tion ; and besides five dissenting churches or congregations, of
' which the ministers, and nearly every one of the members
' were first awakened under my ministry ; I have still at my
' sacraments, according to the weather, from three hundred to
' five hundred communicants, of the far greater part of whom, so
' far as man who cannot see the heart (and can therefore only
' determine by appearances, profession, and conduct) may
'judge, I can give almost as particular an account, as I can of
' myself. I know the state of their progress in religion. By
' my frequent visits and converse with them, I am acquainted
' with their several temptations, trials, and exercises, both
' personal ami domestic, both spiritual and temporal, almost
' as intimately, as if I had lived in their families.' A stranger
who had stood upon the name spot, from whence he could see little
but barren mountains and moors, would scarcely think this
declaration credible. But I knew the man well, and of all the
men I ever knew, I can think of no one who was less to be
suspected of boasting than Mr. Grimshaw.

" Though he was not himself a magistrate, nor supported
or backed by legal authority, bis success was wonderful. His
irreproachable character, his resolution and firmness, his
impartiality, his known benevolence, gave him an authority

Past and Present. 59

and influence, within his own circle, superior to what is often
derived from titles, wealth, or official importance ; he had not
been long in Haworth hefore he was almost universally
respected, and the most vicious and profligate of his parishioners
were restrained and awed by his presence.

" He was very earnest and persevering in enforcing a due
observance of the Lord's day. At church, in prayer time, if
he observed any careless behaviour, he would often stop,
rebuke the offender, and not proceed till he saw the whole
congregation upon their knees. For with him, the reading
prayers was not a matter of custom or form, to be hurried
over merely as a prelude to preaching ; he really prayed, and
the solemnity of his tone and gesture, induced the people, at
least apparently, to pray with him. Exhortations to attention
were seldom necessary from the pulpit, for the animated
manner of his preaching, usually kept the eyes of his hearers
fixed upon him, while he was speaking ; and frequently almost
the whole congregation by turns, were in tears, during different
parts of his discourses, as they were differently affected, either
by a sense of guilt and danger, or by his pathetic representa-
tions of the love of the Saviour, and his readiness to receive
sinners.

" It was his frequent and almost constant custom, to
leave the church, while the psalm before sermon was singing,
to see if any were absent from worship, and idling their time
in the church-yard, the street, or the ale-houses, and many of
those whom he so found, he would drive into the church before
him. A friend of mine passing a public house in Haworth,
on a Lord's day morning, saw several persons making their
escape out of it, some jumping out of the lower windows, and
some over a low wall ; he was at first alarmed, fearing the
house was on fire, but upon inquiring what was the cause of
the commotion, he was told, that they saw the parson coming.
They were more afraid of their parson than of a justice of
peace. His reproofs were so authoritative, and yet so mild
and friendly, that the stoutest sinners could not stand before him,

60 Haworth :

" One Lord's day as a man was passing through Haworth
on horseback, his horse lost a shoe ; he applied to a black-
smith, who told him he could not shoe a horse ou the Lord's
day, without the Minister's leave. They went together to Mr.
Grhnshaw, and the man satisfying him that he was really in
haste, going for a midwife, Mr. Grimshaw permitted the black-
smith to shoe the horse, which otherwise he would not have
done for double pay.

" He endeavoured likewise to suppress the generally
prevailing custom in country places, during the summer, of
walking in the fields on a Lord's day, between the services or
in the evening, in companies. He not only bore his testimony
against it, from the pulpit, but reconnoitered the fields in
person, to detect and' reprove the delinquents. One instance
of this kind, which shews both his care of his people, and his
great ascendancy over them, and which is ascertained by the
testimony of many witnesses, some of whom I believe are still
living, I shall relate. There was a spot at some distance from
the village, to which many young people continued to resort ;
he had often warned them in his preaching against this
custom, and at last, he disguised himself one evening, that he
might not be kuown till he was near enough to discover who
they were. He then spoke and charged them not to move.
He took down all their names with his pencil, and ordered
them to attend him on a day and hour which he appointed.
They all waited upon him accordingly, as punctually as if they
had been served with a judge's warrant. When they came, he
led them into a private room, where, after he had formed them
into a circle, and commanded them to kneel down ; he kneeled
down in the midst of them, and prayed for them with much
earnestness for a considerable time, and concluded the inter-
view, when he rose up, by a close and affecting lecture. He
never had occasion afterwards to repeat his friendly discipline.
He entirely broke the custom, and my informant assures me,
that the place has never been resorted to on a Sunday evening,
from that time, to the present day.

Past and*Present. 61

"But his attention to the people of his more immediate
charge, was not confined to the Lord's day. He was the same
man every day in the week. His religion was not by fits and
starts, but habitual and constant, like the beating of his pulse.
It was, as water is to a fish, the very element in which he
lived. He had a meeting for prayer and exhortation, every
morning when he was at home, in the summer season at five
o'clock, and in the winter at six. These exercises were short
and at an early hour, that the people might not be detained
from following the duties of their callings, whether in the shop
or in the field. For he was an enemy to idleness, and gave
no encouragement to those who would plead religious saunter-
ing, as an excuse for neglecting their proper business in civil
life. But he thought likewise, that to begin the day with
prayer and praise, was the best means to sweeten labour, to
prepare the mind for unforeseen trials, and to guard it against
the influence of the snares and temptations of the world.

" His diligence in his own particular line, was exemplary
and unusual. The exertions of the most industrious man in
trade, could not exceed his in promoting the cause of Grod, the
practice of Christian morality, and in discountenancing and
suppressing vice. In all the actions of common life, in his
most familiar and common conversations, he intermingled a
savour and tincture of the spirit of his Lord and Master which
governed him. He had a happy skill in teaching those around
him spiritual lessons from the incidents of daily occurrence, and
the objects which were before their eyes. His mind was
fertile and prompt in improving these occasions, and, like his
Lord, instructing his bearers and friends, from the birds of the
air and the flowers of the field.

"He painted sin and its deserved consequences in such
strong colours, from the pulpit, as to make even the profane
and profligate tremble. He was not content with inveighing
against sin in general terms, but he descended to particulars ;
and if any thing notoriously wrong was done in the course of
the week, and known in the parish, the offender might expect

62 llaicorth:

to hear of it the next Lord's day, if he went to church. For
as he rebuked sin with all authority, so likewise without
partiality or respect of persons. The fear of the Lord raised
him above the fear of man ; so that he was not only faithful
in his public preaching, when he could speak withoiit interrup-
tion, but he was equally zealous and bold in expostulating
with the guilty, wherever he met them. Thus, when once a
man, who had been often guilty of adultery, came into a shop
where Mr. Grimshaw was, he charged him with his crime upon
the spot, and said to those who were present, ' The devil has
' been very busy in this neighbourhood ; I can touch the man
' with my stick, who lay with another man's wife last night :
' the end of these things will be death, the ruin of body and
' soul for ever.'

" He was particularly watchful over those of his flock
who made an open profession of religion, to see if they adorned
the doctrine of God our Saviour, in all things, and maintained
a consistent character ; and he was very severe in his censures,
if he found any of his communicants guilty of wrong practices.
Being told of a tradesman, who they said was hard and honest,
he said, I suppose you mean to say, hard!;/ honest ; for he
would not allow that a professor of religion, whose honesty
was only concerned to keep free from the penalty of human
laws, could be really an honest man. When he suspected
hypocrisy, he sometimes took such methods to detect it, as
perhaps few men but himself would have thought of. He had
a suspicion of the sincerity of some persons, who made great
pretences to religion, and being informed of their several dis-
positions, he applied to one, as a poor man, and begged for a
night's lodging ; and this person, who had been willing to
pass for very charitable,.treated him with some abuse. He then
went to another house, to a woman who was almost blind ; he
touched her gently with his stick, and persisted to do so, till
she, supposing it to be from some children in the; neighbour-
hood, began not only to threaten them, but to swear at them.
Thus he was confirmed in his apprehensions, but he had no

Past and Present. fi3

good opinion of the religion of those, who were not, at least,
gentle to the poor, or of those who did not bridle their tongues.

" He was parsimonious of his time, and prudent in his
arrangements. And as he had good health, a strong body,
and a vigorous mind, though some of the places he visited
were at a considerable distance, the severest weather caused no
alteration in his plan. He was sure to be where, and at the
time, he was expected. And he was so beloved, and so useful,
that people were seldom prevented from coming ten or twelve
miles, when they heard he was to preach. He seldom staid
longer in a place than to deliver his message ; and that he
might not be burdensome to the house that received him, and
to avoid loss of time, he frequently took some refreshment in
his hand, and posted away to further services. He was often
entertained by the poor, for a cottage, if they who feared the
Lord dwelt in it, was as welcome to him as a palace. He has
often when travelling over moors aud mountains, feasted upon
a bit of bread, or bread and butter, if the house afforded
butter, and an onion. The plainest fare that was set before
him, he accepted with thankfulness, both to the Lord and to
his poor friends. He was with justice compared to an instru-
ment which is never out of tune. He cared not for himself,
so that he might do the will of his Lord, and be instrumental
to the conversion of sinners, and the comfort and edification
of believers. Whether abroad or at home, with the rich or
poor, he was always the same man.

' ' Night aud day were the same to him when he was desired to
visit the sick. He has been known to walk several miles in
the night, in storms of snow, when few people would venture
out of their doors, to visit a sick person. He found his
reward in his work, and would rejoice in such opportunities
of speaking a word for bis Lord to a dying creature.

" There arc at Haworth two feasts annually. It had
been customary with the innkeepers, and some other inhabi-
tants, to make a subscription for horse races at the latter
feast. These were of the lowest kind, attended by the lowest

64 Haicorth :

of the people. They exhibited a scene of the grossest, and
most vulgar riot, profligacy, and confusion. Mr. Grimshaw
had frequently attempted, but in vain, to put a stop to this
mischievous custom. His remonstrances against it were little
regarded; and perhaps any other man would have been ill
treated, if he had dared to oppose, with earnestness, an estab-
lished practice, so agreeable to the depraved taste of the
thoughtless multitude. But his character was so revered,
that they heard his expostulations with some degree of
patience, though they were determined to persist in their old
course. Unable to prevail with men, he addressed himself to
God, and for some time before the races began, he made it a
subject of fervent prayer, that the Lord would be pleased to
stop these evil proceedings in His own way. When the race
time came, the people assembled as usual, but they were soon
dispersed. Before the race could begin, dark clouds covered
the sky, which poured forth such excessive rains, that the
people could not remain upon the ground ; it continued to
rain incessantly during the three clays appointed for the races.
This event, though it took place nearly forty years since, is
still remembered and spoken of at Haworth, with the same
certainty as if it had happened but a few months past. It is
a sort of proverbial saying among them, that old Grimshaw
put a stop to the races by his prayers. And it proved an
effectual stop. There have been no races in the neighbourhood
of Haworth from that time to the present day.

" Humility will show itself in small things. Mr. Grim-
shaw was an economist, that he might be the more able to
impart to the needy ; yet he was a lover of hospitalitj', and he
had occasionally many visitants in the summer season. The
house was sometimes full : it was his frequent practice to
lodge as many of his guests as he could, to give up his own
bed, and then he would retire to sleep in the hay-loft, without
giving his friends the least intimation of his purpose.

" A friend of mine who often lodged with him, surprised
him early one morning, and was not a little surprised himself

Past and Present. 65

to find Mr. Grimshaw cleaning the boots of his guest, whom
he supposed was still asleep.

" One mark or effect of true humility is, simplicity.
The humble man has no occasion for the address, subtlety, and
caution, which are necessary to promote or conceal the pur-
poses of self and pride. He does not wish to pass for more
than he is, he affects no disguise, nor is afraid of detection.
There is therefore an air of openness, and undesigning sim-
plicity observable in his own conduct. It was very observable
in Mr. Grimshaw. His words and his actions were natural,
prompt, and easy, because they flowed from an upright and
honest heart. Many instances of this might be adduced ; I
shall confine myself to two, which are strongly characteristic
of his spirit.

" The late Mr. Whitfield, in a sermon he preached at
Haworth, having spoken severely of those professors of the
Gospel, who by their loose and evil conduct caused the ways
of truth to be evil spoken of, intimated his hope, that it was
not necessary to enlarge much upon that topic to the congre-
gation before him, who had so long enjoyed the benefit of an
able and faithful preacher, and he was willing to believe that
their profiting appeared to all men. This roused Mr. Grim-
shaw's spirit, and notwithstanding his great regard for the
preacher, he stood up and interrupted him, saying with a loud
voice, ' Oh sir, for God's sake do not speak so, I pray you do
not flatter them ; I fear the greater part of them are going to
hell with their eyes open."

" He was in company with a late nobleman, who un-
happily employed his talents in the service of infidelity ; he
had some-time before been engaged in a long dispute with two
eminent clergymen, in which, as is usual in such cases, the
victory was claimed by both sides. Meeting afterwards with
Mr. Grimshaw, he wished to draw him likewise into a dispute,
but he declined it nearly in these words ; ' My lord, if you
' needed information, I would gladly do my utmost to assist
' you ; but the fault is not in your bead, but in your heart,

66 Hatcorth :

' which can only he reached by a Divine Power ; I shall pray
' for you, but I cannot dispute with you.' His lordship, far
from being offended, treated him with particular respect, and
declared afterwards, that he was more pleased, and more
struck by the freedom, firmness, and simplicity of his answer,
than by any thing he had heard on our side of the question.

" I will only subjoin on this head, an extract of a letter
now before me, from a judicious and respectable dissenting
minister, who still lives in the neighbourhood of Haworth.
4 1 have often heard Mr. Grinishaw with great astonishment,
' and I hope with profit. In prayer before his sermon, he
' excelled most men I have ever heard. His soul was carried
' oat in that exercise, with such earnestness, affection, and
' fervour, as indicated most intimate communion with God.
' His love and compassion for the souls of poor sinners, and
' his concern for their salvation, were manifested in the
' strongest manner in all his proceedings. Yet though his
' talents were greit, his labours abundant, and his success
' wonderful, he had the meanest and most degrading thoughts
' of himself, and of all that he did. Humility was a shining
'feature in his character.'

" His disinterestedness was very exemplary. He sought
neither patronage nor preferment. He was not rigorous in
exacting his dues, but was contented with what his parishioners
brought him ; he would say to them, ' I will not deserve your
' curses when I am dead for what I have received for my poor
' labours among you. I want no more of you than-your souls
' for my God, and a bare maintenance for myself.'

" When his clerk was disabled by age and infirmities
from going round the parish to collect his salary, Mr. Grim-
shaw undertook the business and did it for him. He could
cheerfully submit to any service, and thought nothing too low or
mean to engage in, if thereby he could benefit either the souls
or the bodies of his people.

" The care of rebuilding and enlarging the church at
Haworth was entirely committed to him ; the parish expressly

/W and I1 resent. 67

stipulating, that there should be no tax or rate for the service,
and that he should expect nothing from the inhabitants but
from their voluntary contribution. He cheerfully undertook
the affair, and by his exertions and influence, it was completed.

" Ho was a hearty friend of the established church,
though his extra-parochial labours exposed him to the charge
of irregularity. Besides proving and enforcing the doctrines
lie preached by the holy scriptures, he very frequently ap-
pealed for their confirmation to the articles, liturgy, and
homilies of the church. Though he was no bigot, though his
arms and his house were open to persons of all denominations,
who hold the head, he expressed and shewed a decided prefer-
ence for the church of which he was a member and a minister.

"He was likewise firmly attached to the constitution,
laws, and government of his country. He feared God, and he
honoured the king. I am informed that soon after he camo
to Haworth, I suppose about the time of the rebellion, he
encouraged the recruiting service, by countenancing the
officers, and exhorting proper persons to enlist and fight for
their God, their king, and their country.

" I number it amongst the many great mercies of my life,
that I was favoured with his notice, edified (I hope) by his
instruction and example, and encouraged and directed by his
advice, at the critical time when my own mind was much
engaged with a desire of entering the ministry. I saw in him,
much more clearly than I could have learnt from hooks or lec-
tures, what it was to be a faithful and exemplary minister of
the gospel, and the remembrance of him has often both
humbled and animated me. And I hope, while I live, to be
thankful to the Lord, that he has reserved and inclined me to
raise this monument, imperfect as it is, to his memory. I
hope the detached particulars which I have collected and
arranged, as well as I am able, will suffice to give the reader
a just, though not an adequate idea, of this truly great and
wonderful man.

"In the spring of 17C3, Haworth was afflicted by a

68 Han-orth :

putrid fever, of which many persons died ; Mr. Grimshaw had
a strong presage upon his rniiid, that some one of his owu
family would be added to the number, and he repeatedly
exhorted them all to be ready, as he knew not which of them
it might he. As to himself, it was not for a man of his views
and spirit, to decline the calls of duty and affection, from an
apprehension of danger. The fever was highly infectious,
and in visiting his sick parishioners, he caught the infection.
From the first attack of the fever, he expected and welcomed
the approach of death. He knew whom he believed, and felt
his supports in the trying hour. ' While death pointed his
'javelin* to his heart, he beheld the face of this king of
' terrors, as it were the face of an angel. He said, Never had
'I such a visit from God since I knew him.' We have but
brief accounts of him during his illness ; for knowing that his
fever was infectious, he was rather unwilling that his friends
should visit him. But to one of them who saw him, and asked
him how he did, he answered, ' as happy as I can be on earth,
' and as sure of glory as if I was in it.' He is reported like-
Avise to have said to his housekeeper, ' 0 Mary, I have
' suffered last night, what the blessed martyrs did : my flesh
' has been, as it were, roasting before a hot fire. But I have
' nothing to do but step out of my bed into heaven, I have my
' foot upon the threshold already.'

"I know not how long he was confined, but he was
released from sickness, sorrow, and sin, and was admitted
into the unclouded presence of the Lord whom he loved and
trusted, and whose service had been long his delight, on the
7th of April, 1763, in the 55th year of his age ; and in the
21st from his settlement at Haworth.

" He was twice married, and survived his second wife ;
by the former he had a daughter who died when young, and a
son who survived him about two years ; he was married, but
had no child, f

"* Venn's Sermon.

" t The widow of Mr. Grinishaw's son is now the wife of tbe Rev.
John Cross, Vicar of Bradford.

Past and Present. 69

"The Sermon preached at his funeral*, by his dear and
intimate friend, the late Henry Venn (who was then vicar of
Huddersfield) was published, and contains ^.the most early and
authentic account of him, that has appeared in print. From
this publication I shall select the concluding paragraph.
Having mentioned his zeal and unremitting labours, he adds,
' In this manner Mr. Grimshaw employed all his powers and
' talents, even to his last illness. And his labours were not in
' vain in the Lord. He saw an effectual change take place in
'many of his flock; a sense of evil and good, and a restraint
1 from the commission of sin, brought upon the parish in
' general. He saw the name of Jesus exalted, rtnd many souls
' happy in the knowledge of him, and walking as becomes the
' gospel of Christ. Happy he was himself, in being kept by
' the power of God, so unblamable in his conversation, that no
' one could prove that he in any instance, laid heavy burdens
' upon others which he refused to bear himself. Happy in
' being beloved for several of the last years of his life, by every
' one in his parish ; who whether they would be persuaded by
' him to forsake the evil of their ways or not, had no doubt
' that Mr. Grimshaw was their cordial friend, and, in every
' labour of love, their servant to command. Hence at his de-
' parture a general concern was 'visible through his parish.
' Hence his body was interred with what is more ennobling
' than all the pomp of solemn dirges, or of a royal funeral; for
' he was followed to the grave by a great multitude who beheld
' his coffin with afl'ectionate sighs, and many tears ; who
' cannot still hear his much loved name, without weeping for tho
' guide of their souls, to whom each of them was dear as chil-
' dren to a father.' "

In the words of Mr. Newton, TRULY MR. GRIMSHAW WAS
A GREAT AND WONDERFUL MAN. Besides the regular services
of Mr. Grimshaw, and the occasional visits of Mr. Newton,

"* Mr. Venn preached his Funeral Sermon at Luclilemlen, in the
parish of Halifax, where he was buried; the next day (being Sunday)
at Ha worth."

70 Haworth:

Mr. Romaiue, Mr. Ingham and Mr. Venn (muscular Christians
of that great revival period), the two Weslcys and Whitfield
frequently preached at Ha worth, — in the church they could
not, because it would not hold the congregation,— but standing
on a scaffold in the churchyard. Mr. Grimshaw was once
called in question by the Archbishop, who came to hold a con-
firmation, and desired him to preach from a text he gave him,
that he might judge if his doctrines were irregular. Mr.
Grimshaw gave His Grace a prayer and a sermon such as he
preached to his moorland congregations. When it was over
the Archbishop thanked him, and wished there were more like
him. Once, when he was visiting a church to preach, a
churchwarden gently signified that the congregation did not
like long sermons, and that Mr. Wesley never exceeded an
hour. " Mr. Wesley, God bless him! can do as much in one
hour as I can in two." In a book printed at Halifax, in 1810,
called " The Methodist Manual," by the Rev. Jonathan Crow-
ther, a native of Halifax parish, there are some interesting
traits of character and specimens of Mr. Grimshaw's manner
of speaking. Instead of saying " A Ram caught in a thicket,"
he would say " A Tup that had fastened his head in a thorn or
briar bush." Complaining that his hearers would not " say
grace before meals," he said " You are worse than the very
swine, for the pigs will grunt over their meal, but you will say
nothing." He concluded — " Lord dismiss us with thy bles-
sing. Take all these people under Thy care, bring them in
safety to their own homes, and give them their suppers when
they have got home, but let them not eat a morsel until they
have said grace ; then let them eat and be satisfied, and return
thanks to Thee when they have done. Let them kneel down
and say their prayers before they go to bed : in their clothing
for once at any rate, and then Thou wilt preserve them till
morning." Speaking from Psalm xlviii, 14, he told the people
that " they who have this God for theirs shall never want a
pound of butter for eit/htj/ence, or three pints of blue milk for
a ha'penny as long as they live." When he met travellers

Past and Present. 71

" he would rive them olf their horses to make them pray."

The justly celebrated Essayist — John Foster, of whom
Yorkshiremen may be proud, tells the following anecdote
respecting Mr. Clrimshaw. " The master of a house where
such a practice (religious services) had been begun, complained
to him that his pious exercise had been disturbed, and the
persons coming to join in it insulted, by a number of rude,
profane fellows, placing themselves in a long entry from the
street to the" part of the house where the meeting was held.
Grimshaw requested that in case of the repetition of this
nuisance, information might be quietly sent to him. It was
repeated, and the information was sent, on which he put on
his great coat, and went in the dark (it was winter) to the
house. He added himself, without being recognised, to the
outer end of the row of blackguards, and affected to make as
much rude bustle as the best of them. But being a man of
athletic sinew, he managed to impel them by degrees further
and further up the passage, and close to the door of the room,
which was thrown open in the tumult, when, with one desper-
ate effort of strength and violence, he forced the whole gang
into the room and into the light. He instantly shut the door,
took from under his great coat a horse-whip, dealt round its
utmost virtue on the astonished clowns till his vigorous arm
was tired, then fell on his knees in the midst of them, uttering
in a loud imperative tone, 'Let us pray,' and he prayed with
such a dreadful emphasis that all in the place were appalled.
The wretches were dismissed, and there was no more disturb-
ance given to the prayer meetings."'

The liev. Charles Wesley wrote two hymns upon his
death; and many other hymns and elegies were written to ex-
press the great sorrow there was at his loss. Some of these'
were printed on rough broad sheets like ballads, and sold
about the country. His memory is had in honour still.

Mr. Venn published, in 17G8, — " Christ the Joy of the
Christian's Life, and Death his (iaiu: on Phil, i, 21. A
Funeral Sermon on the Death of the Rev. W. Grimshaw, A.B.,

72 Haworth :

Minister of the Parish of Haworth ; with a Sketch of his Life
and Ministry."

The Rev. Mr. Romaine preached his funeral sermon in
London, and both he and Mr. Venn fixed upon Mr. Grim-
shaw's favourite text — " To me to live is Christ, and to die is
gain." Mr. Romaine says, "He was the most laborious and
indefatigable minister I ever knew. For the good of souls, he
rejected all hopes of affluent fortune; and for the love of
Christ cheerfully underwent difficulties, dangers and tribula-
tion. When friends pressed him to spare himself, he replied,
' Let me labour now. I shall have rest by-and-by.' He caught
the malignant fever of which he died by visiting the poor.
His last words were, ' Here goes an unprofitable servant.' "

His remains, at his own desire, were taken from Sowdens,
in Haworth, to Ewood, and thence to Luddenden Chapel,
attended by great numbers who sang, at his dying request, all
the way from Ewood to the Chapel. He was buried, as was
customary, in a coffin of ' eller ' wood. At that time trans-
mission of bodies, long distances, was by horse litter, and an
unusually long and mournful spectacle presented itself as Mr.
Grimshaw's remains were carried over the mountain to the
Vale of Calder. A plain stone, near the communion table,
indicates his grave.

Mr. Grimshaw was admirably suited for the sphere in
which he moved. Placed in a mountainous region, among
people remarkably rough and uncivilized, he adapted his habits
of life and his mode of address to them. Like a Boanerges,
he thundered against them the awful threatenings of the law.
On week days he made a preaching excursion, and Ewood,
near Hebden Bridge, where his son resided, was frequently the
scene of his labours. He used to say — "I love Christians,
true Christians of all parties ; I do love them, I will love them,
and none shall make me do otherwise." Mr. Berridge,
writing to Lady Huntingdon, in 1767, sets up " faithful Grim-
shaw " as a model " episcopos."

The Rev. John Grimshaw, who entered as curate of Cros-

REV? P. BRONTE.

Past and Present. 73

stone, 1734, Luddenden in 1748, and Illingworth in 1749,
married, at Lightcliffe Chapel, Feb. 25th, 1740, Mary Cock-
roft, of Wadsworth. The Rev. William Grimshaw's second
wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Cockcroft, gent., of
Hebden Bridge. The widow of the Rev. Wm. Grimshaw's
son married secondly, a Mr. Lockwood.

The font at Haworth bears the inscription : — " W. Grim-
shaw, A.B., Minister, A.D. 1742."

A stone slab within the church states that the " Church
was rebuilt and enlarged in 1755 : W. Grimshaw, A.B. ; T.
Greenwood, Br. house, T. Horsfall, Ha. yreen, R. Heaton,
Ponden, G. Taylor, Stanbury, M. Piglielh,' Hole, T. Pighills,
Stanbury, J. Murgatroyd, Ro. house, J. Horsfall, Manuels,
J. Roberts, Lo. town, M. Heaton, Birks, Trustees. Jon.
Whitehcad, dark. To us to live be Christ, To die our gain.
Ph. i, 21."

The text just named is known throughout the district as
" Grimshaw's Text," being his favourite one. Mr. Grim-
shaw's Pulpit Bible was formerly shown to visitors.

Two large pewter flagons are still kept in the vestry.
One has the inscription :

"In Jesus we live, in Jesus we rest,
And thankful receive His dying bequest,
The Cup of Salvation His mercy bestows,
And all from His passion our Happiness flows.

A.D. 1750."
The other reads :

"Blest Jesus, what delicious Fare!
How sweet thine entertainments are !
Never did Angels taste above,
Redeeming grace or dying love.
A.D. 1750."

The sounding board over the three-decker pulpit has
been removed since Mr. Bronte's death. It bore such an in-
scription as Mr. Grimshaw was likely to select: — "I DETER-
MINED NOT TO KNOW ANYTHING AMONG YOU SAVE JfiSUS CHKIST

AND HIM CRUCIFIED. — W. G."

74 Haworth :

Mr. Grimshaw obtained a brief in 1754, and raised
thereby the necessary fund for enlarging and repairing the
Chapel. The gallery was not added till 1779. It ranged
round three sides, the pulpit occupying the centre of the south
side. The eastern gallery was removed a few years ago. The
staircase to the galleries is at the north-west corner.

1768. JOHN RICHAKDSON, M.A., was inducted as suc-
cessor to Mr. Grimshaw. Mr. James supposed he was a
native of Crossby, in Westmoreland. He is spoken of as a
good disciplinarian, who kept, like his predecessor, the unruly
folk of Haworth in great awe. The appearance of his shovel
hat was, like Mr. Grinishaw's whip, sufficient to clear a public
house, or quell a disturbance. He resided at Cook House, in
Haworth. His death is recorded in the Register as follows :
" The Rev. John Richardson, M.A., late Minister of Haworth
Church, who died of a decline 23rd April, 1791, aged fifty-six
years; interred the 3rd May, at Crossby Church, in West-
moreland." His nephew, the Rev. Joseph Richardson, was
popular at Haworth, and great dissatisfaction was manifested
that he did not succeed to the curacy.

Mr. Newton says — " Though Haworth was deprived of
Mr. Grimshaw, it was not deprived of the Gospel. The minis-
ters who have succeeded him in the living, have all preached
the same truths, have all maintained an honourable character."
The two successors referred to were — " the late Rev. John
Richardson, and the present Incumbent, the Rev. James Char-
nock ; to the latter gentleman's kind inquiries I am indebted
for the principal and most authentic memoirs of Mr. Grini-
shaw's life. The congregation at Haworth Church is still as
large as formerly." This was written in 1798.

The spirit of independence, or justice, manifested itself
on the death of Mr. Grimshaw. I copy the following entries
from the Presentation Book at York. "A caveat was entered
April 12th, 1763, on the death of W. Grimshaw until John
Greenwood and Robert Hcaton be first called." "A caveat
was entered April 13th, 1703, by the Rev. J. Sykes." The

I 'ant and Present. 75

meaning of these caveats is that the parties claimed their
" say " in the appointment of a successor. On the 10th Sep-
tember, 1703, the Kev. John Richardson, clerk, B.A., was
presented to the curacy of Haworth, vacant by the death of
Win. Grimshaw, clerk, on the nomination of the llev. J. Sykes,
Vicar of Bradford.

1791. JAMES CHARNOCK, M.A., succeeded in July.

For some time before his presentation the people of
1 1 ;i worth were again at variance with the parish officials at
Bradford, owing to the sale of certain pews in Bradford Church,
when Ponden Farm was purchased with the proceeds, to form
an endowment for the organist's salary. This led to a law-
suit against Haworth people, who, in 1785, refused to pay
their proportion (certainly a heavy one — one-fifth) of the
Church rate in future, as they contended that the money should
have been applied to rate purposes. In 1789, action was
brought in the Ecclesiastical Court, York, to compel them, but
the Court had no compulsory jurisdiction. A mandamus was
obtained from the Court of King's Bench, commanding the
wardens at Haworth to levy the rate as usual. The case was
tried at York, in 1792, before Mr. Justice Buller, and
Haworth lost the day. A motion for a new trial was unsuc-
cessful. From that time the usual payment was annually
made until 1810, when they again refused, and another
mandamus was applied for, but without success, because the
rate was retrospective. A rate was shortly laid prospectively,
when another action was tried at York Lent Assizes, in 1812,
and Haworth lost again.

The Terrier, of 1817, records that the Minister of
! Fa worth receives the rents, issues, and profits arising from
live farms, situate at and near Stanbury. He has also a croft
at Hawortb, of about one acre. He has full dues for all kinds
of Ecclesiastical duties, all of which have been performed from
time immemorial in Haworth. There are three bells in the
steeple, and a clock; a very ancient silver cup for the commu-
nion, a blue velveteen cover for the table, and carpet to coyer

76 Haworth :

the floor of the same. The occupiers of farms are charged
•with the repairs of the edifices, and churchyard fences.

Mr. Charnock died May 25th, 1819, aged fifty-seven
years, and is buried within the communion rails, where there
is an inscription to his memory.

At the funeral of Mr. Charnock above eighty people were
bid to the arvill, and the cost of the feast averaged 4s. 6d. per
head, all of which was defrayed by the friends of the deceased.
These arvills, or funeral meals, are of ancient standing in
Yorkshire, but have now almost vanished, In some villages
still, however poor the relatives, all who attend the funeral are
expected to attend the " meat," or " sweet," tea (which of the
two can best be afforded); and generally a funeral card is
given instead of gloves. At the entrance to the house each
one takes a biscuit and a glass of wine, before the funeral proces-
sion starts off. As formerly, the sexton announces the breakfast
or tea at some school or public-house, before the people
disperse from the grave-yard. But, happily, the feasting and
drinking of former days has nearly died out.

On the decease of Mr. Charnock, the Rev. Mr. Heap,
Vicar of Bradford, offered the living of Haworth to the Rev.
Patrick Bronte, but the trustees of the Church Estate refused
to receive him as the nominee of the Vicar, whereupon Mr.
Bronte declared that he would not come without the consent of
the parish, upon which the Vicar presented the REV. SAMUEL
REDHEAD to the curacy. He was, however, compelled to
resign the appointment, owing to the unruly proceedings of
the inhabitants. Eventuallj', a compromise was effected, by
the Vicar conceding the choice of the curate to the trustees,
and the acceptance by them of Mr. Bronte, who had won their
good will by his conduct in the affair.

I find that many of our chapels-of-ease had formerly the
right of choosing the curate, subject to the approbation of the
vicar. Lightcliffe and Coley are instances to the point, and
these, like Haworth, by neglect seem to have forfeited their
rights. But in the case of Haworth the endowments are so

Past and Present. 77

vested in the Trustees that they may pine any curate who
does iiot prove acceptable, if the vicar persists in forcing his
nominee.

Mr. Bronte says — " My predecessor took the living with
the consent of the Vicar of Bradford, but in opposition to the
•trustees ; in consequence of which he was so opposed that,
after only three weeks' possession, he was compelled to resign."

During Mr. Charnock's long illness, Mr. Redhead had
given him occasional help, and was greatly esteemed by the
people of Haworth. The following notice of Mr. Redhead's
short curacy is from the pen of Mrs. Gaskell, and is substan-
tially correct. I have met with old people in Haworth who
were present at one or other of the scenes, and the grandson
of Mr. Redhead's clerk vouches for the story from the oft-
narrated experience of the clerk who accompanied him.

" The first Sunday he officiated, Haworth Church was
filled even to the aisles ; most of the people wearing the
wooden clogs of the district. But while Mr. Redhead was
reading the second lesson, the whole congregation, as by one
impulse, began to leave the church, making all the noise they
could with clattering and clumping of clogs, till, at length, Mr.
Redhead and the clerk were the only two left to continue the
service. This was bad enough, but the next Sunday the pro-
ceedings were far worse. Then, as before, the Church was
well filled, but the aisles were left clear; not a creature, not an
obstacle was in the way. The reason for this was made
evident about the same time in the reading of the service as
the disturbances had begun the previous week. A [half-
witted] man rode into the church upon an ass, with his face
turned towards the tail, and as many old hats piled on his head
as he could possibly carry. He began urging his beast round
the aisles, and the screams, and cries, and laughter of the con-
gregation entirely drowned all sound of Mr. Redhead's voice,
and, I believe, he was obliged to desist. Hitherto they had
not proceeded to anything like personal violence ; but cu the
third Sunday they must have been greatly irritated at seeing

78 Haworth :

Mr. Redhead, detenniniued to brave their will, ride up the
village street, accompanied by several gentlemen from Brad-
ford. They put up their horses at the Black Bull, and went
into Church. On this the people followed, with a chimney
sweeper, whom they had employed to clean the chimneys of
some out-buildings that very morning, and afterward plied with
drink till he was in a state of solemn intoxication. They
placed him right before the reading de^k, where his blackened
face nodded a drunken, stupid assent to all that Mr. Redhead
said. At last, either prompted by some mischief-maker, or
from some tipsy impulse, he clambered up the pulpit stairs,
and attempted to embrace Mr. Redhead. Then the profane
fun grew fast and furious. Some of the more riotous pushed
the soot-covered chimney-sweeper against Mr. Redhead, as he
tried to escape. They threw both him aud his tormentor
down on the ground in the churchyard where the soot-bag had
been emptied, and though, at last, Mr. Redhead escaped into
the Black Bull, the doors of which were immediately barred,
the people raged without, threatening to stone him and his
friends. One of my informants is an old man, who was the
landlord of the inn at the time, arid he stands to it that such
was the temper of the irritated mob, tbat Mr. Redhead was in
real danger of his life. This man, however, planned an escape
for his unpopular inmates. Giving directions to his hunted
guests to steal out at the back door (through which, probably,
many a ne'er-do-well has escaped from good Mr. Grimshaw's
whip), the landlord and some of the stable boys rode the horses
belonging to the party from Bradford backwards and forwards
before his front door, among the fiercely expectant crowd."
They then rode after the visitors, who had crept behind the
street.

This was Mr. Redhead's last appearance at Haworth for
many years. Long afterwards he came to preach, and in his
sermon to a large and attentive congregation, he good-
humouredly reminded them of the circumstances. They gave
him a hearty welcome, for they owed him no grudge.

Past ami Present. 79

A gentleman writes: "I accompanied Mr. Heap on his
first visit to Haworth after his accession to the vicarage of
Bradford. It was on Easter day, 1816 or 1817. His prede-
cessor, the venerable John Crosse, known as the 'blind vicar,'
had been inattentive to the vicarial claims. A searching
investigation had to be made and enforced, and as it proceeded
stout and sturdy utterances were not lacking on the part of
the parishioners.'' Besides paying their fifth towards Brad-
ford Church, ten miles away, " they had to maintain their own
edifice, &c. They resisted, therefore, with energy, that which
they deemed to be oppression and injustice. By scores would
they wend their way from the hills to attend a vestry meeting
at Bradford, and in such service failed not to show less of the
anariter in modo than the fortiter in re."

Mr. Redhead became Vicar of Calverley in 1823, and
died August 26th, 1845, being succeeded by his son-in-law,
the Rev. A. Brown, M.A. A Memoir, with portrait, of Mr.
Redhead was published in 1846.

THE REV. PATRICK BRONTE, B.A., succeeded, after the
repulse previously mentioned, to the curacy of Haworth, in
1819, and removed his family from Thornton, in Bradford-
dale, in February, 1820.

Mr. Bronte was born at Ahaderg, near Loughbrickland,
County Down, Ireland, on St. Patrick's day, March 17th,
1777. His father, Hugh Bronte, was a small farmer, and
could give little education to his ten children, owing to reduced
circumstances. The Bronte family were remarkable for great
physical strength, and much personal beauty. At the age of
sixteen, Patrick opened a school, which he continued for five
years, when he became tutor in the family of the Rev. Mr.
Tighe, at Drumgooland. In 1802, July, he entered St. John's
College, Cambridge, and in four years gained the B.A. degree.
While at Cambridge, he joined a company of volunteers
intended to repel the threatened invasion by Napoleon, and
among his comrades were Lord Palmerston and the late Duke of
Devonshire. The last time the Duke visited his seat at

80 Hau-orth :

Bolton Abbey, he called ou Mr. Bronte, at Haworth, and a few
days afterwards sent some hampers of game, and other
delicacies, to show that he had not forgotten his old comrade
in arms.

It has sometimes been severely commented upon that
Mr. Bronte broke off all connections with his family in Ireland,
but I believe this statement is not correct, as he sent an
annuity of £20 to his mother as long as she lived.

After holding a curacy in Essex a short period, he ob-
tained, July, 1810, the curacy of Hartshead, near Brighouse,
worth £200 a year, and while there married, in 1812, Maria
Branwell, daughter of Mr. Thomas Bran well, of Penzance,
merchant, a noted local Methodist. Mr. Bronte — a hand-
some, enthusiastic Irishman, became acquainted with his wife
while staying with her uncle, the Rev. John Fennell, a clergy-
man living near Leeds.

Mr. Feunell was previously a Wesleyan, and connected
with Woodhouse Grove School. He was the son of Thomas
and Mary Fennell, of Madelev, and was born June 19th, 1702.
He married, in 1790, Jane, daughter of Richard and Margaret
Branwell, who was born at Pcnzauce, Nov. l()th, 1753. She
died at Crosstone Parsonage, near Todmorden, in May, 1829.
They had one daughter, Jane Branwell Fenuell, born at Pen-
zance, October 9th, 1791, who married (Dec., 1812,) the Rev.
Wm. Morgan. Mrs. Morgan died in 1827. Mr. Fennell
married secondly (at Halifax, 1830), Elizabeth, daughter of
John Lister, merchant, Leeds, niece of Rev. Thomas Howorth,
of Idel. Their children were: — Mary Elizabeth, 1831, mar-
ried Rev. W. G. Mayne, of Ingrow; Hannah Julia, 1834,
married Dr. Edward Ilott, of Bromley; Chas. John, a doctor
R. Navy; Ellen Jane, 1838, married Mr. Salmon, barrister;
Thomas Edward, 1840, of the G. E. Railway.

Miss Branwell " was exceedingly small in person, not
pretty, but very elegant, and always dressed with a quiet, sim-
plicity of taste." The marriage took place, I believe, at
Guiscley Church. She possessed considerable literary taste,

Past and Present. 81

and brought her husband an annuity of £50 a year.

THORNTON CHAPEL.

After remaining five years at Hartshoad, where his two
children Maria and Elizabeth were born, he obtained the
living of Thornton, in Bradford-dale ; the Rev. Wm. Morgan,
of Christ's Church, Bradford, who had married Mrs. Bronte's
cousin, probably having some influence in the matter. An
amusing incident respecting Mr. Bronte was told to Mr.
Abraham Holroyd, by Mrs. Akeroyd, of Thornton. " A
rumour reached her ears one day that one of the Dissenters
had seen Mr. Bronte shaving himself on a Sunday morning,
through the chamber window, which fronted the main street.

82 Haworth:

Here was a pretty state of things, and my informant herself
thought this very wrong, so oft' she went to her minister's
house, and begged a private interview. When Mr. Bronte
had heard all, he said, ' I should like you to keep what I say in
your family, but I never shaved myself in all my life, or was
ever shaved by anyone else. I have so little beard that a
little clipping every three months is all that is necessary.' '
The house in which Mr. Brontr lived at Thornton is near the

THORNTON PARSON AGE,

Past and Present. 83

centre of the village. A butcher's shop has hoen erected, one
story high, in front of the lower sitting room. On the 21st
of April, 181G, Charlotte was born at this house. " Fast on
her heels followed Patrick Branwell. Emily Jane, and Anne.
After the birth of this last daughter, Mrs. Bronte -'s health
began to decline." Having only one servant, Mr. Bronti'-
applied to Mrs. Richardby, at the School of Industry, Brad-
ford, for a young girl as nurse, and he obtained the services of
Nancy Garrs, and after a time another sister named Sarah,
who remained with the family for many years, and always
testified of Mr. Bronte that " he was one of the kindest men
that ever drew breath." There was nothing too good for his
family and servants. These were the two servants stigmatized
by Mrs. Gaskell as "wasteful," but were amply vindicated by
Mr. Bronte in 1857, when he uttered the just sentence,
"Mrs. Gaskell has made ns appear as bad as she could."

, Mr. Bronte had published four small volumes before he
left Thornton.

Cottat/e Poems, by the Rev. Patrick Bronte, B.A.,
Minister of Hartshead-cum-Clifton, Yorkshire. Printed for
the Author, at Halifax, by P. K. Holden, 1811, and contains
an Epistle to the Rev. J. B. ; The Happy Cottagers ; The
Rainbow; Winter Night Meditations; Verses to a Lady on
her Birthday ; The Irish Cabin ; To the Rev. J. Gilpin ; The
Cottage Maid ; The Spider and the Fly ; Epistle to a Young
Clergyman ; Epistle to the Labouring Poor ; The Cottager's
Hymn. 136 pages.

The Rural Ministry: A Miscellany of Descriptive
Poems. Printed for the author by P. K. Holden, Halifax,
1818. Contents— The Sabbath Bells; Kirkstall Abbey;
Extempore Verses; Lines to a Lady on her Birthday; An
Elegy; Reflections by Moonlight; Winter; Rural Happiness;
The Distress and Relief; The Christian's Farewell; The
Harper of Erin.

The Maid of Killarney: or Albion and Flora, a tale in
which ;ire interwoven cursory remarks on Religion and Politics.

84 Haworth:

Printed by T. Inkersley, Bradford, 1818. 166 pages.

The Cottaye in the Wood : or the Art of becoming rich
and happy; a tale, with poem. Inkersley, Bradford, 1818.

Mr. Bronte was in many respects no ordinary man. His
compositions have some characteristics in common with those of
his children, and at times display deep observation and vigor-
ous power of expression. The interest, however, which
attaches to his name arises mainly from his extraordinary
talented children.

On the 25th of February, 1820, the Brontes removed to
Haworth. For a fortnight they had stayed with the Misses
Firth, of Kipping, until the packing was completed. Their
quiet exit in the carts which conveyed the delicate wife and six
young children, and their household goods, was witnessed by
many with sincere regret. Soon after their arrival Mrs. Bronte
had an internal cancer, but she continued the same patient,
cheerful person ; very ill, suffering great pain, but seldom if
ever complaining; devotedly fond of her husband, who warmly
repaid her affection, and suffered no one else to take the night-
nursing. She died September 15th, 1821, " and the lives of
those quiet children must have become quieter and lonelier
still." Miss Branwell, an elder sister of Mrs. Bronte, came
from Cornwall to be housekeeper about a year afterwards.
This responsible post she filled in a satisfactory manner for
nearly twenty years. Her small fortune she shared between
the three sisters, but left the name of Branwell out of her will.
He had been her favourite ; she had generously shared in the
expense occasioned by his lessons at Leeds in oil painting, but
his reckless expenditure and dissolute habits had distressed
the good old lady.

Maria Bronte, the eldest child, died in May, 1825, aged
eleven; and the month following, Elizabeth, her sister, aged
ten, was laid in the same grave, near the communion rails, at
Haworth. Maria was " a grave, thoughtful and quiet girl.
She was delicate and small in appearance, which seemed to
give greater effect to her wonderful precocity of intellect.

Past and Present. 85

She-must have been her mother's companion and helpmate."
The illness of their mother, and the studies of the father,
necessitated that the children should be very quiet. When
between seven and eight Maria would read the newspaper, and
be able to report "debates in Parliament." "She was as
good as a mother to her sisters and brother. But there never
were such good children. I used to think them spiritless, they
were so different to any children I have ever seen. They were
good little creatures. Emily was the prettiest." Such was
the testimony of an old servant. Mr. Bronte taught his chil-
dren their lessons when young. Besides his attention to their
minds, he wished to make. them hardy, and indifferent to the
pleasures of eating and dress. He was a great walker, and
loved to stroll over the lone heights, where he occasionally saw
the eagles seize their prey. " He fearlessly took whatever
side in local or national politics appeared to him right." On
account of his opposition to the Luddites, he became unpopu-
lar (for a time) among the millworkers about Hartshead, and
then, as was necessary, began to carry a loaded pistol about
with him, a practice he continued through life. He had his
meals alone, and seemed either to hate company, or to love
solitude, or both. Afterwards he offended the mill-owners
because he took the part of the workpeople in a " strike."
Though seemingly misanthropic, he was extremely kind in his
personal contact with his people. They attributed his reserve
to a desire to mind his own business, and let other people do
the same. He had little company; indeed, only church-
wardens, and such as came on business, with an occasional
friendly visit from some neighbouring clergyman. The girls
had no companions with whom to associate, and hence their
attachment to each other became the stronger. Charlotte,
like Maria, was a precocious girl. The Duke of Wellington
was her hero. In July, 1824, Maria and Elizabeth entered
Cowan Bridge School — the Lowood mentioned in " Jane
Eyre," but not to be taken as strict matter-of-fact. In Sep-
tember of the same year, Mr. Bronte took his next two

80 llan-orth :

daughters, Charlotte and Emily, to be admitted. Poor Maria,
the Helen Burns of " Jane Eyre," was dreadfully home sick,
and no wonder, considering the merciless tyranny of the Mi*s
Scatcherd of the story. Her cough hacked her more and more,
but the malicious spite of the teacher added considerably to
her unhappiness. Low fever broke out in the school. Maria
was taken ill, and Mr. Bronte was sent for. She was taken
home, and died a few days afterwards. Elizabeth was soon
after sent home, and as rapidly was cut down. Charlotte and
Emily had another term at Cowan Bridge, but returned home
in the autumn of 1825, on account of indisposition. Old
Tabby, so frequently mentioned in Mrs. Gaskell's book, became
servant about this time, and she afforded a new field to the
observant Charlotte. Tabby had a will of her own, and kept
the " bairns " within bounds. They were greatly attached to
her. She had lots of old tales to tell them, and dearly loved to
recount the gossip of the village. As they sat around the
ingle on wintry nights, telling tales of their own invention, or
listening to Tabby's stories of the fairies, they heard the old
clock strike seven with deep regret, for the rule must not be
broken, and they must retire. At fifteen years of age Char-
lotte had done a large amount of writing, in a hand so small
that it would require a magnifying glass to enable one to read
it with anything like ease.

I have seen one of the mimic magazines in Charlotte's
handwriting. It is about two inches long and one broad, and
(as may be expected) is highly prized by its possessor, the
Martha Brown whose name frequently appears in connection
with our notice of Miss Bronte.

In January, 1881, Charlotte had the happiness to become
associated with a kindly teacher, Miss Wooler, and gentle
schoolmates, at a pleasant house named Roe Head, near
Hartshead. Her progress here was great. She was very
near sighted, and seldom joined in play with her schoolmates.
Here she became acquainted with Miss Ellen Xussey (the
Caroline Helstone of Shirley), whose friendship lasted for life.

Past and Present. 87

She and Miss Wooler sign, as witnesses, the marriage certifi-
cate of Miss Bronte. In 1832 she left Roe Head, having
made considerable progress in the French language, as well as
mastered English. On the return home the sisters often
walked to Keighley to obtain from a library such works as Sir
Walter Scott's. Anne and Charlotte are described as " shy,"
but Emily as "reserved." In 1835 Charlotte became a
teacher at Roe Head, and Branwell (who had become too well
known at the riotings at the Black Bull) was to go to London
to become a famous artist, and Emily went (a*s a pupil with
Charlotte) to school. But Emily soon pined for Haworth
quietness, and she returned, not to leave it again except twice;
once, for six months, to be a teacher at Halifax, and for ten
months, a student at Brussels.

Miss Anne, gentle Annie, was also a pupil at Miss
Wooler's school, then removed to Dewsbury Moor.

Branwell's visit to London was relinquished. The hopes
of the father and sisters had been centred on him, but, alas !
they met with grievous disappointment. Whenever a travel-
ler stayed at the Black Bull, he was sent for as a " brilliant "
companion; and his nervous system was already shaken. In
1840 all the Brontes were at home, except Miss Anne.
Their great hope and aim now was to keep a school, but this
desire never came to a firm decision, as the aunt was averse to
it. The few moments that were not frittered away by Bram-
well, he employed in writing verse for the Leeds Mercury,

The following letter, written in 1840 by Miss Bronte, is
taken from Mrs. Gaskell's "Life."

"Little Haworth has been all in a bustle about church-
rates, since you were here. We had a stirring meeting in the
schoolroom. Papa took the chair, and Mr. C. and Mr. W.
acted as his supporters, one on each side. There was
violent opposition, which set Mr. C.'s Irish blood in
a ferment, and if papa had not kept him quiet, partly
by persuasion and partly by compulsion, he would
have given the Dissenters 'their kale through the reek' — a

88 Haworth:

Scotch proverb. He and Mr. W. both bottled up their wrath
for that time, but it was only to explode with redoubled force
at a future period. We had two sermons on Dissent and its
consequences, preached last Sunday — one in the afternoon by
Mr. W., and one in the evening by Mr. C. All the Dissenters
were invited to come and hear, and they actually shut up their
chapels, and came in a body; of course the Church was
crowded. Mr. W. delivered a noble, eloquent, High-Church
Apostolical-Suc<iession discourse, in which he banged the Dis-
senters most fearlessly and unflinchingly. I thought they had
got enough for one while, but it was nothing to the dose that
was thrust down their throats in the evening. A keener,
cleverer, bolder, and more heart- stirring harangue than that
which Mr. C. delivered from Haworth pulpit, last Sunday
evening, I never heard. He did not rant ; he did not cant ;
he did not whine; he did not sniggle; he just got up and
spoke with the boldness of a man who was impressed with the
truth of what he was saying. His sermon lasted an hour, yet
I was sorry when it was done. I do not say that I agree
either with him, or with Mr. W., either in all or in half their
opinions. I consider them bigoted, intolerant, and wholly un-
justifiable on the ground of common sense. My conscience
will not let me be either a Puseyite or a Hookist ; mais, [but]
if I were a Dissenter, I would have taken the first opportunity
of kicking, or of horse-whipping both the gentlemen for their
stern, bitter attack on my religion and its teachers. Mr. W.
has given another lecture at the Keighley Mechanics' Insti-
tute, and papa has also given a lecture; both are spoken of
very highly in the newspapers, and it is mentioned as a matter
of wonder that such displa}rs of intellect should emanate from
the village of Haworth, ' situated among the bogs and moun-
tains, and, until very lately, supposed to be in a state of semi-
barbarism.' Such are the words of the newspaper."

It seems that Methodists and Baptists had refused to pay
the Church rates.

Soon after this, Branwell obtained a situation as a clerk

CHARLOTTE BRONTE

Past and Present. 89

on the Leeds and Manchester Railway.

Mr. Bronte, early, in 1842, took hia two daughters, Char-
lotte and Emily, to M. Heger's School, at Brusiels. Miaa
Bronte remarks in a letter, " I was twenty- six years old a week
or two since; and at this ripe time of life I am a school-girl."
They returned home on the death of Miss Branwell, but Miss
Bronte re-visited Brussels as a teacher of English, and
received German lessons in return. This was in January,

1843. In December, though sinking with oppression, a dis-
taste for her surroundings, and home sickness, she wrote to
Emily: — "Tell me whether papa really wants me very much
to come home, and whether you do likewise. I have an idea
that I should be of no use there — a sort of aged person upon
the parish. I pray, with heart and soul, that all may continue
well at Haworth; above all in our grey half- inhabited house.
God bless the walls thereof ! Safety, health, happiness, and
prosperity to you, papa, and Tabby. Amen."

Pleading the increasing blindness of her father, she left
M. Heger's establishment, and reached home January 2nd,

1844. The experiences of "Jane Eyre," "Shirley," and
" Villette " have been thus dearly bought. One seems to see
the life-blood of the agonized authoress coursing every line.

In the Summer of 1845 she deplored the condition of her
father. " He has now the greatest difficulty in either reading
or writing; and then he dreads the state of dependence to
which blindness will inevitably reduce him. He fears that he
will be nothing in his parish. Still he is never peevish;
never impatient; only anxious and dejected." Added to this,
her sympathies were estranged from his assistants. "At this
blessed moment, we have no less than three of them [curates]
in Haworth parish — and there is not one to mend another.
The other day, they all three, accompanied by Mr. S., dropped,
or rather rushed, in unexpectedly to tea. It was Monday
(baking day), and I was hot and tired; still, if they had be-
haved quietly and decently, I would have served them out their
tea in peace; but they began glorifying themselves, and

90 Haworth :

abusing Dissenters in such a manner, that my temper lost its
balance, and I pronounced a few sentences sharply and rapidly,
which struck them all dumb. Papa was greatly horrified also,
but I don't regret it."

Branwell, who had for some time been engaged as tutor
at Green Hammerton, in the same family as Anne, was
summarily dismissed about this time. The home was now
miserable owing to his presence. When be could not obtain
opium, or intoxicating liquors at home, he resorted to stratagem
to supply his cravings. The sisters dreaded some act of
suicide. He suffered from attacks of delirium tremens, and
kept the family in agitation day and night. Mr. Bronte had
great difficulty in managing him on these occasions. Branwell,
when he came to his senses in the morning, would say : —
" The poor old man and I have had a terrible night of it; he
does his best — the poor old man! but it's all over with me."
The sisters, as a means of consolation and abstraction, fell to
their happy, child-like habits of composition. John Green-
wood supplied them with stationery. He gave the following
outline of his transactions with the sisters. "About 1848, I
began to do a little in the stationery line. Nothing of that
kind could be had nearer than Keighley before I began. They
used to buy a great deal of writing paper, and I used to
wonder whatever they did with so much. I sometimes thought
they contributed to the magazines. When I was out of stock,
I was always afraid of their coming ; they seemed so distressed
about it, if I had none."

In 1848 an influenza had prevailed amongst the villagers,
and amongst those who suffered was Miss Anne Bronte. Mr.
Bronte represented the unsanitary state at Haworth pretty
forcibly to the local authority, and after the requisite visits
from their officers, obtained a recommendation that all future
interments in the churchyard should be forbidden, a new
grave-yard opened on the hill-side, and means set on foot for
obtaining a water-supply to each house, instead of the weary,
hard- worked housewives having to cany every bucketful up

Past and Present. 91

the steep street. But he was baffled by the ratepayers.

Miss Bronte, in August, 1848, notes that the oldest
family in Haworth failed lately, and have quitted the neigh-
bourhood where their fathers resided before them for, it is said,
thirteen generations.

The next nine months was a season of bitter trial at the
parsonage. In September, Patrick Branwell succumbed, and
was buried in the family vault at the Church; in December,
Emily Jane's remains were laid in the same place; and in
May, 1849, the gentle Anne was buried at Scarborough,
whither Miss Bronte had taken her to try to recruit her health.
We join our regret with that of hundreds more that she was not
buried at Haworth. Miss Bronte and her friend Miss Nussey
were the two mourners at Scarborough.

About the close of 1849, the public were informed that
Currer Bell was none other than Miss Bronte. A spirit dealer
at Liverpool, who was a native of Haworth, jumped at the
conclusion, and published it in a Liverpool paper.

Miss Bronte shortly after this became personally ac-
quainted with Miss Martineau, Mr. Thackeray, Lord Carlisle,
Lord Houghton, Sir J. Shuttleworth, Mrs. Gaskell, and other
noted writers. But at no place was the enthusiasm greater
than at Haworth. The announcement of Miss Bronte's
authorship was a day that I have heard people of Haworth
speak of as one of public rejoicings. We will let Miss Bronte

narrate how the news fell on her startled ears. " Mr.

having finished ' Jane Eyre,' is now crying out for the other

book. Mr. has finished ' Shirley,' he is delighted with

it. John *s wife seriously thought him gone wrong in

the head, as she heard him giving vent to roars of laughter
as ho sat alone, clapping and stamping on the floor. He
would read all the scenes about the curates aloud to papa.
Martha came in yesterday, puffing and blowing, and much
excited. ' I've heard sich news !' she began. ' What about?'
' Please, ma'am, you've been and written two books — the
grandest books that ever was seen. My father has heard it at

92 Haworth:

Halifax, and Mr. G T and Mr. G and Mr. M

at Bradford ; they are going to have a meeting at the Mechan-
ics' Institute to settle about ordering them.' "

Visitors hegan to pour into Haworth in 1850. Sir James
Shuttleworth, Lord John Manners, Mr. Smythe (sou of Lord
Strangford), Mr. Thackeray, the first Bishop of Ripon, and
many others.

About the close of 1852, Miss Bronte had an offer of
marriage (the fourth offer, I believe), which she declined, and
as a result the person, Mr. Nicholls, who had held the office of

REV. A. B. NICHOLLS.

assistant curate eight years, resigned his situation. A testi-
monial of respect from the parishioners was presented to him
at a public meeting. However, after his removal they became
engaged, and it was arranged that as soon as the curate who
succeeded him had met with another engagement, Mr. Nicholls
should resume the curacy. After one or two awkward hitches,
the marriage ceremony was performed by the Rev. Sutcliffe
Sowden, of Hebden Bridge, at Haworth Church.

Mr. and Mrs. Nicholls made a tour in Ireland, and on
their return a tea and supper to about five hundred were given
in the schoolroom.

Mr. Nicholls had the offer of a good Hying soon after-
ward, but decided to remain at Haworth. In November, Mr.

Present.

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94 Haicorth:

and Mrs. Nicholls took a long walk to see the waterfall at
Ponden Kirk, and she caught cold. Again, early in 1855,
her cold was increased hy lingering on the damp ground at
Gawthorpe, the seat of Sir J. K. Shuttle worth. Early on
Saturday morning, March 81st, the solemn tolling of Haworth
Church bell sent a thrill of anguish through the hearts of the
villagers — Charlotte was no more. Old Tahby had died a few
months previously.

We have been led further and further into the story of
this melancholy yet fascinating history, and one is tempted to
recount the many unwritten reminiscences treasured up at
Haworth, and especially in the memory of Martha Brown, an
intelligent woman, who is still in the service of Mr. Nicholls,
at Banagher, but we must now turn more directly to the subject.

Notwithstanding some eccentricities, and severity of
manner, Mr. Bronte's character was greatly respected in the
neighbourhood, and he lived in concord with the numerous
Radicals and Dissenters of the township, although a Tory and
staunch Churchman himself.

In 1846, he became blind from a cataract in the eyes,
but, with that stoicism which ever distinguished his conduct,
he continued to fulfil the duties of the pulpit, and shortly
afterwards, having undergone an operation, he regained his
sight. " He conscientiously discharged all the duties of a
parish priest, by visiting and comforting the sick, superintend-
ing and directing the National and Sunday Schools, and
preaching at all times — in sickness and in sorrow. Though
firm in his own religious opinions, he was tolerant of those of
others. Of true, but unostentatious piety, he despised that
sanctimonious affectation which consists in show rather than
reality." He died on the 7th day of June, 1861, aged 84.

By the authority of the Secretary of State, Mr. Bronte
was interred in the family vault. This authority was neces-
sary, as an order had been obtained, on Mr. Bronte's solicita-
tion, for closing the old burial ground. On the day of the
funeral, Haworth was full of mourners. The shops were

Past and Present. 95

closed, and business entirely suspended. The Rev. A. B.
Nicholls was the chief mourner. The Rev. Dr. Burnet, of
Bradford, and the Rev. Dr. Cartman, of Skipton, preceded the
coffin, which was borne from the parsonage to the church, and
thence to the grave, by six clergymen of the district, the
Incumbents of Cullingworth, Oakworth, Oxenhope, Morton,
Ingrow, and Hebden Bridge. Martha Brown, the house-
keeper, Mrs. Brown, and Mrs. Wainwright (Nancy Garrs),
with many visitors, followed the remains to the grave. The
day of mourning will long be remembered in Haworth.

In 1824, as recorded on a stone in the church, gates and
pillars were erected at the entrance to the yard. The names
of the Trustees and Minister are inscribed.

In 1832, the National School was built by subscription,
and a grant from the National Society. Miss Bronte was a
Sunday School Teacher here.

Mr. Bronte had, as assistants, the Rev. Wm. Hodgson,
to whom the Pastoral Aid Society granted an annuity of £50,
from 1836; the Rev. W. Weightman, M.A., of the University
of Durham, curate about two years, and the Rev. James
Stuart Cranmer, D.D., 1847, who was also Master of the
Grammar School. Mr. Weightman died September 6th, 1842,
aged 27 years, and was interred in the north aisle, where a
tablet was erected to his memory by the congregation, by
whom he was greatly respected. Mr. Bronte delivered his
funeral sermon from I. Cor., xv, 56-58, on the second of
October. It was printed by Mr. J. U. Walker, Halifax.

He also published "A Sermon preached in the Church
of Haworth, on Sunday, the 12th September, 1824, in refer-
ence to an Earthquake there, by the Rev. P. Bronte, Incum-
bent." This was an octavo, price sixpence, printed by T.
Inkersley, Bradford, 1824. Further particulars of this event
will be found subsequently. [Crow Hill Bog.]

The six bells now occupying the steeple were cast by
Mears, of London, in 1845. A board in the belfry states
that the " Peal of Bells was hung by William Wood; Joseph

96 Haworth :

Redman being Architect, and were opened and prizes given,
March 10th, 1846." " April 6th, 1849, change ringing, 6040
changes in 2 h. 55 m. Nov. 22nd, 1853, ditto in 3 h. 6 m."

We will now briefly point out the features of interest
within the building. The pews on the ground floor are of old
black oak, square, and, for convenience of attending to a
sermon, incommodious. Many of them bear the names of
the owners of certain farms to which the pews are appropriated.
The Bronte pew was removed about 1870, when considerable
alterations were made in the Church. The Lord's pew, raised
a few steps above the rest, and near the Bronte pew, was also
removed. The Bronte vault was near the said pews, and at
the south corner of the Communion rails. The large twelve-
light Chandelier was removed, and also the Sounding Board,
leaving the three-decker pulpit incomplete. The pillars
(which pass up the centre of the Church) were chipped several
inches thinner. The east gallery was taken down, and the
organ removed to the north-east corner of the ground floor.
There are only two aisles, north and south. The entrances to
the Church are from the south-west and north-west, opposite
each other. Beginning at the north-west door we have on the
left hand the steps to the galleries at one corner, and the
door way to the vestry, or lower part of the steeple, at the
other ; on the right are the two aisles, the rest blocked by
high pews. Passing down the north aisle we notice the
font and benefaction boards in the corner; the tablets
previously mentioned, recording improvements during Mr.
Grirnshaw's and Mr. Bronte's incumbencies ; the tablet to Mr.
Weightman'a memory ; and the small organ. The three east
windows, particularly the small one in the middle, containing
two paintings — The Last Supper, and Christ blessing Chil-
dren, are worthy of inspection. The Communion Table is
really an unpolished, ancient oak chest, a curiosity indeed!
A new Lectern, a flaring brazen eagle, the gift of Mr. M.
Merrall, stands near the Bronte vault, possibly to scare anti-
quaries and literati from that immediate spot. The neat

Past and Present. 97

mural tablet, erected within the Communion railing, in April,
1858, in place of the previous ones, to the memory of the
Brontes, is of white Carrara marble, on a ground of dove-
coloured marble. The old tablets recorded : —

HERE

LIE THE KEMAINS OF
MARIA BRONTE, WIFE

OF THE

REV. P. BKONTE, A.B., MINISTER OF HA WORTH.

HER SOUL
DEPARTED TO THE SAVIOUR, SEPT. 15TH, 1821,

IN THE 89 TH YEAR OF HER AGE.

" Be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the
Son of Man cometh." — MATTHEW xxiv. 44.

ALSO HERE LIE THE REMAINS OF

MARIA BRONTE, DAUGHTER OF THE AFORESAID;

SHE DIED ON THE

GTH OF MAY, J.825, IN THE 12TH YEAR OF HER AGE;

AND OF

ELIZABETH BRONTE, HER SISTER,
WHO DIED JUNE 15TH, 1825, IN THE HTH YEAR OF HER AGE.

" Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become
as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of
heaven." — MATTHEW xviii. 3.

HERE ALSO LIE THE REMAINS OF

PATRICK BRAN WELL BRONTE,

WHO DIED SEPT. 24TH, 1848, AGED 30 YEARS;

AND OF

EMILY JANE BRONTE,
WHO DIED DEC. 19TH, 1848, AGED 29 YEARS,

SON AND DAUGHTER OF THE

REV. P. BRONTE, INCUMBENT.

THIS STONE IS ALSO DEDICATED TO THE

MEMORY OF ANNE BRONTE,
YOUNGEST DAUGHTER OF THE REV. P. BRONTE, A.B.

98 Haworth :

SHE DIED, AGED 27* YEARS, MAY 28xH, 1849,

AND WAS BUEIED AT THE OLD CHURCH, ScARBRO'.

On another tablet (the first being too small) was inscribed : —

ADJOINING LIE THE REMAINS OF

CHARLOTTE, WIFE

OF THE

REV. ARTHUR BELL NICHOLLS, A.B.,

AND DAUGHTER OF THE REV. P. BRONTE, A.B., INCUMBENT.

SHE DIED MARCH 31sT, 1855, IN THE 39ra

YEAR OF HER AGE.

On the south side are tablets to the memory of the
Midgleys, Lords of the Manor ; to Grace, daughter of H.
Cockroft, Esq., Wadsworth, wife of Joseph Greenwood, Esq.,
Magistrate, Keighley, 1822; to Thomas Andrew, born 1790,
Surgeon in Haworth 24 years, died April 29th, 1842 (erected
by friends); and to George Oates Greenwood, Esq., of Nether
Wood House.

In the vestry is an old oak chair. One of Mr. Grimshaw's
chairs is preserved at the Wesleyan minister's house as a
heirloom.

The old flagons and the Marriage Register of Miss Bronte
are usually shown to visitors, who are asked to enter their
names in the Visitors' Book. There are three of these nearly
filled, and many interesting signatures will be noticed. Many
Americans have visited the Church. The first rough visitors'
book is missing.

The benefaction boards, besides the gifts previously
mentioned, state that Christopher Scott, gent., gave a hundred
marks to the Church; John Scott, gent., augmented it with
£10 per annum for a Sunday Afternoon Sermon, and also gave
£18 per annum to the School; John Holmes, gent., of Cross,
in Stanbury, gave £GOO, the interest to support a school-
master. " May success attend this institution for ever."

The Church, until very lately, was said to be a handsome
structure in the Perpendicular style. It will be noticed that

*Error : she was 29,

Past and Present. 99

the turrets and battlements of the tower have been removed,
a new piece added, and then again they were replaced. There
is a saying that Haworth people mucked (manured) the church
to make it grow. A Bradfordian asked a woman of Haworth
if this was true, whereupon she retorted — " I don't know, but
I've heard of Bradford folk coming and scratting to see if it
were true."

The graveyard is nearly filled with tombstones and head-
stones. The graves rise in terraces up to the parsonage.
There are few inscriptions of peculiar interest. Reared
against the south wall of the Church is a short headstone
recording remarkable instances of longevity of the Murgat-
royds, of Lee: Susan, wife of John, 1785, aged 86; John,
1789, aged 88; James, their son, 1820, aged 95, Ann, his wife,
1831, aged 85; Sarah, wife of John, 1846, aged 70, and
John (son of James), 1862, aged 85. United ages 509.
Another of the family, of equal longevity, has been interred
since in the new portion.

A flat stone near the back window of the Black Bull Inn

has the inscription: J. S. 1796. He is said to have been

hung for stealing. Near the last stone is one to the memory

of five women who were not worth naming, I suppose.

Here lie the

Bodies of the 5

Wives of William

Sunderland. Also

William Sunderland

1790.

The Beavers, of Butteryate Sike, lived to a great age.
Thomas died 1727, aged 76; Paul, his son, 1767, aged 83;
Jonas his ion 1788, aged 82; Paul, brother of Jonas, 1786,
aged 77.

The Feathers are a family of long standing at Old Oxen-
hope. Robert Feather, died 1828, aged 88, ' having been a
faithful servant in the family of the late William Greenwood,
Esq., of Moorhouse, nearly 50 years.'

100 Han-ortJi :

A headstone to the memory of Dawson, a musician, is a
capital piece of sculpturing by Hargreaves. The portico at
Dr. Ingham's mansion is by the same sculptor.

Near the wall in front of the parsonage is a stone record-
ing the death of Mr. Bronte's faithful servant, Tabby.
" Tabitha Aykroyd, of Haworth, who died Feb. 17th, 1855,
in the 85th year of her age." The footpath from the parson-
age formerly passed close by this grave.

In the higher portion of the ground, a stone records the
interment of sixteen infants of one family, the Leemings.

Hardaker, the local poet, was buried at the Roman
Catholic Chapel, Keighley, I am told.

The oldest stone I have seen has the initials and date :
I. H. 1642. There are many stones to the Greenwoods,
Redmans, Horsfalls, Rushfirths, Fosters, Tillotsons, Feathers,
Judsons, Sunderlands, Pighells, &c.

Latin has not been in much demand. There is a Hie
jacet Hollins.

The good glebe house of Mr. Bronte's time has had a
wing added.

" Mr. Nicholls would fain have had the living of Haworth,
for which he had served so faithful an apprenticeship, and the
people would fain have had him to minister over them; it was,
indeed, promised to him by Dr. Burnet, the vicar of Bradford,
but local influences were brought to bear upon the reverend
patron, and the people got [a] Mr. Wade, from Bradford,
instead. Mr. Nicholls, after this second disappointment,
returned to Banagher, King's County, where he has since
married, and has resigned the clerical order for that of a gen-
tleman farmer."

THE REV. JOHN WADE, who has held the living since Mr.
Bronte's death, is a native of Bradford.

The Ripon Calendar, for 1879, gives — Haworth, Rec-
tory, New Parish, value £170, Population 8,454, Accommo-
dation 715. Rev. John Wade, 1861.

Past and Present.

101

HAWOBTH PARSONAOE— 1879.

METHODISM.

The Rev. Benjamin Ingham, one of the Oxford Metho-
dists, who associated with the Wesleys and the Moravians,
was about the first Yorkshire Methodist. In 17B8 he hud
many societies under his charge in the West Riding, Haworth
appearing amongst the numher. He obtained, as an assistant,
John Toeltschig, a noted Moravian, from Germany. Many
notices of Mr. Ingham, Mr. Grimshaw, and Mr. Venn will be
found in the Life and Times of the Countess of Hunt iiu/dan,
2 vols. Chapter xv, vol. I., records the Rise of Methodism in
Yorkshire, the Settlement of the Moravians at Lightcliffe, Mr.
Ingham's marriage with Lady Margaret Hastings, Mr. Gnm-
shaw's defence against the dastardly attacks of the Yicar of

102 Haworth :

Colne, &c. The next two chapters bear particularly on York-
shire, wherein Mr. Grimshaw figures prominently, and Haworth
had such visitors as the Countess of Huntingdon, the Rev.
George Whitefield, the Wesley s, Rev. Henry Venn, Rev. John
Newton, and other worthies.

The diary of Mr. Williams, of Kidderminster, contains
particulars of Mr. Grimshaw's early Methodism. In a letter,
dated March, 1747, he gives " The most material passages of
what I learned from Mr. Grimshaw, touching his life, &c."
Then a biographical sketch to that date is famished. Mr.
Grimshaw had two local assistants, — Jonathan Maskew, a
native of Bingley, who formed, for many years, part of Mr.
Grimshaw's family, as servant, companion, and evangelist;
and Paul Greenwood, who was born at Ponden, in Haworth.
An incident is told respecting young Paul. About 1740, after
reading a sermon by Sir. Seagrave, he went into the barn to
pray, where he continued an unusual length of time. His
father, under some unpleasant apprehensions, went to see
what had become of him, and found him engaged in earnest
prayer. After standing a few moments, he himself was power-
fully affected — kneeled upon the ground — and began also to
raise the voice of supplication. It was not long before the
mother went in search of both, who stood in like manner for
a short time — bowed the knee — and prayed earnestly for
mercy. Soon afterwards they were joined by a brother, and
then by a sister, who were no less in earnest for salvation,
and they all obtained peace with God before they left the
place. Further notices of Maskew and Greenwood will be
found in Myles' Life of Grimshaw, Atmore's Methodist Memo-
rial, Methodist Magazine, 1798, p. 510, Everett's Methodism
in Manchester, and Spence Hardy's Life of Grimshaw. Mr.
Paul Greenwood travelled for twenty years, and died in 1767,
at Warrington, on the same day that his mother died. Jona-
than Maskew, better known as Mr. Grimshaw's Man, was
another of the first members of the Methodist Society in
Haworth. At Guiseley he was attacked by a rude and ignor-

Past and Present. 108

ant rabble. They stripped him naked, rolled him in the dirt,
and nearly deprived him of his life, yet Mr. Wesley used to
say that "Ten such preachers would carry the world before
them." He settled at Deanhead, near Rochdale, where he
died August 3rd, 1793, aged 81.

Thomas Lee, born near Keighley, in 1717, was one of
Mr. Grimshaw's converts, and began to preach about 1747.
Thomas Mitchell, a native of Bingley, was another. He was
a soldier in 1745, but attended Mr. Grimshaw's ministry from
1746. In 1751 he became a travelling preacher. His life
was published in 1781. James Riley, of Bradshaw, regularly
attended Haworth Church, and was accompanied by some of
his neighbours. For miles round, every Sunday, little groups
and solitary persons were to be seen wending their way over
the various moors to Haworth, and thus Mr. Grimshaw was
the means of establishing and strengthening numerous congre-
gations. Baptist and Independent, as well as Methodist
societies, trace their origin to Mr. Grimshaw's labours. The
following are amongst the number : — Mr. Crossley, of Booth,
and Mr. Titus Knight, of Halifax ; Mr. Smith, of Wainsgate,
Mr. John Parker, of Barnoldswick, Mr. Hartley, of Haworth,
Mr. Dan Taylor, of Wadsworth, Dr. Fawcett, of Bradford.

Jonathan Catlow, of Scar Top, in Oxenhope, united with
the Methodists, and became a local preacher at sixteen years
of age. He expressed a desire to his mother that he might
become a preacher, and she accompanied him to a house at
Sough, on the edge of the Moor, in Keighley parish. The
mother, who was the better reader of the two, gave out the
hymns, and Jonathan had a few old women as auditors, who inti-
mated that he had done very well ; and from that day he made
great progress. He was a popular local preacher for twenty
miles around Haworth, and then began to travel. He died at
Keighley of a malignant fever he had caught by attending the
funeral of a person who had died of that disorder. He
requested that a sermon might be preached at his funeral,
from I. John, iii, 2, and the great Keighley revival commenced

104 Haicorth :

from that time. This was about the year 1763.

The name of John Nelson, of Birstal, was held in great
esteem, but he does not seem to have visited Haworth often.
Indeed, he had a large field of labour in Birstal Circuit.

The following lines introduce to us one more labourer : —

In Keighley, by Thine own right hand,

A church ia planted there ;
0 help them, Saviour ! all to stand

Thy goodness to declare.

HawortKs a place that God doth own,

With many a sweet smile ;
With power the gospel's preach'd therein,

Which many a one doth feel.

But while the strangers do receive

The blessing from above,
There's many near the church that starve

For want of Jesu's love.

At Bradford dale and Thornton Town,

And Places all around :
And at Lingbob sometimes at Noon,

The Gospel trump we sound.

These are four of the one hundred and four verses of
doggerel known as William Darney's hymn, published in
1751. Scotch Will (as he was generally called) began
his evangelizing mission in this district about 1742,
having the Rev. Benjamin Ingham and the Moravians
in the same field of labour. The Rev. William Grim-
shaw heard this powerfully-gifted Scotchman harangue
an out-door assembly at Haworth, and was convinced
of the truths he spoke, and fascinated by the man's earnest-
ness and fearlessness. They united in conducting similar
services in Haworth and the district, and little societies were
formed in each village, and known as "Darney's Societies."
These were regularly visited by Mr. Grimshaw, hence arose
the expression, "Mad Grimshaw has turned Scotch Will's
clerk." But Darney was a meteor flash: no district bound-
aries could confine his efforts, and gradually Mr. Grimshaw
had the responsibility of the societies, under the directorship

Past and Present.

105

of the Rev. John Wesley. The circuit became thus known as
" Grimshaw's Round.'' From 1749 to 1776 Haworth was
the head ol a circuit, but in the latter year Keighley took the
lead.

EEV. W. ORIMRHAW.

As Mr. Grimshaw's portrait arrived too late for the notice
of him as incumbent, we gladly place it under Methodism,
where it equally deserves to be.

The Rev. John Wesley paid his first visit to Haworth,
May 1st, 1747. " I read prayers and preached in Haworth
Church to a numerous congregation."

In 1748 he paid another visit to Haworth. On the 21st
of August (Sunday) he preached at Leeds and Birstal ; on the
22nd at Heaton and Halifax; on the 23rd, at 5 a.m., at
Halifax, 1 p.m., at Baildon, and in the evening at Bradford,
where none behaved indecently, but the curate of the parish ;

106 Haworth :

on the 24th — "At eight I preached at Eccleshill, and about
one at Keighley. At five Mr. Grimshaw read prayers and I
preached at Haworth, to more than the Church could contain.
We began the service in the morning (Thursday, 25th,) at five,
and even then the Church was nearly filled. I rode with Mr.
Grimshaw to Roughlee, where T. Colbeck of Keighley, was to
meet us. We were stopped again and again, and begged ' not
to go on; for a large mob from Colne was gone before us.'
So we hastened on, that we might be there before them. All
was quiet when we came. I was a little afraid for Mr. Grim-
shaw, but needed not. He was ready to go to prison or
death for Christ's sake."

Mr. Wesley writes, " Wednesday, June 30th, 1753,
I rode to Haworth, where Mr. Grimshaw read prayers, and I
preached to a crowded congregation ; but, having preached ten
or twelve times in three days, besides meeting the societies,
my voice began to fail."

In 1757, Mr. Wesley visited Haworth again, and alludes
to a powerful earthquake felt from Bingley to Lancashire. In
1761 he preached at Haworth to so vast a multitude that the
Church would scarce contain a tithe of the people. Mr. Grim-
shaw had a plan which he almost invariably adopted on these
occasions. He caused a scaffold to be fixed on the outside of
one of the Church windows, through which the preacher went
after reading prayers. At extraordinary times the church was
entirely filled with communicants.

176G, August 3rd, Sunday, Mr. Wesley preached again
at Haworth. " When the prayers were ended, I preached
from a little scaffold, on the south side of the Church, on those
words in the gospel, 0 that thoii haikt known the thimjs that
Muni/ unto thy peace! The communicants alone (a sight
which has not been seen since Mr. Grimshaw' 8 death) filled the
Church. In the afternoon the congregation was supposed to
be the largest which had ever been there : but strength was
given me in proportion, so that I believe; all could hear."

"August 1, Monday, At one I preached at Bingley, but

Past and Present. 107

with an heavy heart, finding so many of the Methodists here,
as well as at Haworth, perverted by the Anabaptists. I see
clearer and clearer none will keep to us unless they keep to
the Church. Whosoever separate from the Church will separ-
ate from the Methodists."

" 1772, Saturday, July 4, I rode to the Ewood, to S.
Lockwood's, formerly the wife of young Mr. Grimshaw; after-
ward married to Mr. Lockwood, and now again a young widow.
Her sister was with her, the relict of Mr. Sutclifle.
At one I preached at Heptonstall to some thousands of people.
Hence we climbed up and down wonderful mountains to
Keighley, where many from various parts were waiting for us.
Sunday, 5, not half the congregation at Haworth could get into
the Church in the morning, nor a third part in the afternoon :
so I stood on a kind of pulpit, near the side of the Church.
Such a congregation was never seen there before, and I believe all
heard distinctly. Monday, 6, at noon I preached at Bingley."

" 1780 April 23rd, Sunday — Mi1. Kichardson being un-
willing that I should preach any more in Haworth Church, pro-
vidence opened another." [Bingley.]

' " 1786, May 23rd, Sunday, I preached in Haworth
Church in the morning, and Bingley Church in the afternoon."

" 1788 May 27, Sunday, I preached at Haworth Church
in the morning : crowded sufficiently."

In April, 1790, Mr. Wesley was again at Haworth.

Haworth was a place of great interest to the Rev. George
Whitefield. In a letter, dated Sept. 29, 1749, he writes, —
" I preached four times at Abberford [Mr. Ingham's] four
times at Leeds, and thrice at Haworth, where lives one Mr.
Grimshaw.'' In a letter to Lady Huntingdon, October 1st,
he observes, — "At Mr. Grimshaw's I believe there were above
six thousand hearers. The sacramental occasion was most
awful." The number of communicants he computed at above
a thousand. The sacrament days at Haworth were seasons of
great festivity as well as solemnity. Persons resorted to
Haworth at such times from twenty miles round. Ou one

108 Hawortli :

occasion all the wine in the village is said to have been insuf-
ficient for the requirements of the service. Mr. Whitefield
notes his meeting with William Davy (Darney, is meant,) at
Haworth, "who has since been imprisoned for preaching."
Mr. Whitefield addressed large assemblies at Haworth in 1750
and 1752. He was at Bradford and the district in the
autumns of 1755 and 1756; and almost annually till 1766.

His talents were admirably adapted for these itinerant
visits. His manner, his voice, his action, and above all, his
solemnity and fervour, commanded and riveted the attention
beyond anything that modern times have exhibited. He fre-
quently preached in the churchyard at Haworth. On one
occasion, while addressing the congregation, he expressed a
hope that most of his audience were enlightened Christians.
Mr. Grimshaw, who was standing near him, from a sudden
impulse, interrupted, exclaiming — " They are going to hell
with their eyes open."

The old Society Book at Haworth (now in the custody of
the Keighley Superintendent) gives some interesting notices
of early Methodism :

Jan. 10, 1748, A pair of boots for W. Darney, 14s.
Oct. 23, 1755, Jonathan Maskew's shirts and stockings,

14s. lOd.

Jonathan Maskew's hat, 5s.
July 22, 1756, Two shirts for J. Maskew, 13s.
Three cravats for do. 3s.
To Pumps, 6s.
To Stockings, 3s. 6d.

Oct. 21, 1756, To Jonathan Maskew's coat £1 12s. 6d.
To W. Parker for J. M.'s stocks, 4s. 9d.
To J. M.'s coat making, 4s. 6d.
To do. for Gamashs 7s. 6d.
April, 1782, A pair of shoes for Mr. Wesley.
Three letters written by Mr. Grimshaw, in 1747, to the
Rev. John Wesley, are printed in Everett's Methodism in
Manchester. The first is dated from Haworth, the other two

Past and Present. 109

from Ewood. In the first he refers to his visits to Todmor-
den, Heptonstall, and Mrs. Holmes', Lightcliffe. The second
is a particularly interesting epistle. "Two under my own
roof are just now under true conviction; one a girl about
eighteen years of age, and the other, a boy about fourteen;
and I hope, my own little girl, between ten and eleven years old.

" The method which I, the least and most unworthy of
my Lord's ministers, take in my parish, is this ; I preach the
gospel, glad tidings of salvation to penitent sinners, through
faith in Christ's blood only, twice every Lord's day the year
round, (save when I expound the Church Catechism, and
thirty-nine Articles, or read the Homilies, which, in substance,
I think it my duty to do in some part of the year annually on
the Lord's day mornings). I have found this practice, I bless
God, of inexpressible benefit to my congregation, which con-
sists, especially in the summer season, of perhaps ten or
twelve hundred; or, as some think, many more souls. We
have also prayers, and a chapter expounded ever}7 Lord's-day
evening. I visit my parish in twelve several places monthly,
convening six, eight, or ten families, in each place, allowing
any people of the neighbouring parishes that please to attend
that exhortation. This I call my monthly visitation. I am
now entering into the fifth year of it, and wonderfully, dear
Sir, has the Lord blessed it. The only thing more, are our
funeral expositions or exhortations, and visiting our societies
in one or other of the three last days of every month. Some-
times I have made more excursions into neighbouring parishes,
to exhort, but always with a Nicodemical fear, and to the great
offence of the clergy. I am determined to add, by the divine
assistance, to the care of my own parish, that of so frequent a
visitation of Mr. Bonnet's, William Darney's, the Leeds and
Birstal Societies, as iny own convenience will permit, and their
circumstances may respectively seem to require. 0! I can
never do enough. I can discover in every way a perfect
agreement between your sentiments, principles, &c., of religion,
and my own. My pulpit, I hope, shall be always at your's,

110 Haworth:

and your brother's service ; and my house, so long as I have
one, your welcome home. The same I'll make it to all our
fellow-labourers."

The rough treatment at Roughlee, mentioned in Mr.
Wesley's diary, calls for more notice. The instigator was the
Rev. George White, M.A., Minister of Colne and Marsdeu,
who published "A SERMON against the METHODISTS, preached
to a very numerous audience; at Colne, July 24, and at
Marsden, August 7, 1748. Published at the Request of the
Audience. Preston. 8vo, 24 pages." He was author of
The Englishman's Rational Proceedui</s in the Choice of
Religion, 1741; The Miraculous Sheep's Eye: A Burlesque
Poem, 1743; The Hiyh Mass: A Burlesque Poem, 1747;
Theological Remarks on Dr. Middletons Discourse; translator
of Thurlow's Letters into Latin ; and editor of Merc units
Latinus, a newspaper, 31 numbers. He was educated at
Doway for the Roman Catholic priesthood. Dr. Whitaker's
Whalley states that he was shamefully inattentive to his parish
duties. On one occasion he is said to have read the funeral
service more than twenty times in a single night, over the dead
bodies which had been interred in his absence. After one of
his excursions, he made his appearance with a Madam Hellen
Maria Piarza, an Italian governante, whom he married at
Marsden, March 23rd, 1745. He was shortly afterwards im-
prisoned for debt. It was the 25th of August, 1748,
that Mr. Wesley and Mr. Grimshaw were molested by a mob
he had gathered in response to the following Proclamation :

" Notice is hereby given that if any men be mindful to
' inlist into his Majesty's service, under the command of the
' Rev. Mr. George White, Commander in Chief, and John Banis-
' ter, Lieut. General of his Majesty's forces, for the defence of
' the Church of England, and the support of the Manufactory
' in and about Colne, both which are now in danger, &c. &c.
' let them now repair to the drum-head at the Cross, where
' each man shall have a pint of ale for advance, and other
"proper encouragement."

Past and Present. Ill

Mr. Grimshaw published " An Answer to a Sermon,
lately published against the Methodists by the Rev. Geo.
White. — Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, 0 mighty
man? &c. Psalm 52, 1-6. Semper ego Auditor tantum?
Nunquanme reponam? JHV." The motto was nearly as
prophetic as it was pungent; for he was not long in the "land
of the living," after its publication. The Answer is appended
to Myles' Life of Grimshaw, as a reprint.

Mr. Grimshaw's zeal scarce knew any bounds, and his
liberality towards Methodist Itinerant Preachers was limited
only by his income. He received them into his own house,
and, well knowing the little chance his parish would have of a
successor who would feel a deep concern for the work he was
carrying on, he erected a Methodist chapel at Haworth. The
present building, I believe, is the third chapel. The stone
bearing Mr. Grimshaw's favourite text is walled into the pre-
sent edifice: "To us to live is Christ, To die is gain, A.D.
1758." Another stone near it records: "The First Chapel
was erected by the Rev. Wm. Grimshaw, A.B., Minister of
Haworth Church, A.D. 1758." This seems to have been
added to the second building, which stood much nearer to the
road than the present chapel. Haworth Church has no tablet
to the memory of Mr. Grimshaw, but he has left monuments
which will perpetuate his zeal and religious philanthropy far
better than any marble tablet.

At the parsonage is preserved a beautiful old-oak chair,
bearing on a brass plate the following inscription: "This
chair was originally the property of the Rev. Wm. Grimshaw,
B.A., Incumbent of Haworth, and was presented to the resi-
dent Wesleyan Minister of the same place by Robert Townend,
Esq., of Ebor House, Haworth, afterwards of Broughton,
Manchester."

It will thus be seen that Haworth Methodists have still a
peculiar respect for the memory of Mr. Grimshaw. A native
writes, respecting the stoppage of the annual races on account
of the heavy rain in Mr. Grimshaw's day, " I believe that

112 tiaii'orth:

certain Christians, on fine summer Sundays, continue to
assemble together on this identical moor, to celebrate the
great and wondrous event, making its solitudes resound to
their loud hosannas."

Haworth continued the head of the Circuit until 1775,
when Keighley took its place, but in recent years Haworth has
been constituted a separate Circuit. Various houses in the
township (as Sawood End,) were early licensed under the
Toleration Act as preaching places. The chapel at Lower
Town, Oxenhope, was built in 1805, and enlarged in 1824.
The school was rebuilt in 1852. There are two burial
grounds attached, and in the new one the celebrated vocalist
Thomas Parker — the Yorkshire Braham — is interred. He
died April 8th, 1866, aged 79. An account of him will appear
subsequently. On the clock face is the portrait of the vener-
able John Wesley, — a very suggestive position, opposite the
pulpit. The Wesley ans, besides a school at Sawood, have a
school-chapel at Marsh, built by subscription, in 1836, and
enlarged in 1874. There are two resident ministers in the
township. In 1832 a Wesleyan chapel was erected at Stan-
bury. A few travelling preachers (Rev. Jonathan Clough
Ogden, and others,) have been sent out from Haworth in
modern times. The Primitive Methodists reared a chapel at
Mill Hey in 1836; rebuilt 1870.

The following ministers laboured in Haworth original
circuit : —

1750 William Grimshaw, Wm. Darney.
1753 Jonathan Maskew, John Whitford, Enoch Williams,
Joseph Jones, William Hheiit, John Edwards.
1755 William Grimshaw, John Nelson, John Schofield.
1758 James Oddie, Alexander Coates.

1764 John Pawson, W. Fugill, Paul Greenwood, Daniel

Buinstead.

1765 Isaac Brown, John Atlay, Nicholas Manners, James

Stephens, l{obt. Costerdiue.

1766 J. Brown, J. Shaw, li. Costerdine, J. Atlay.

Past and Present. 113

1767 E. Costerdine, Joseph Guildford, J. Whittam, T.

Cherry.

1768 Thomas Mitchell, J. Guildford, W. Ellis, T. Newall.

1769 T. Mitchell, G. Hudson, Thus. Wride, D. Evans.

1770 B. Seed, G. Hudson, D. Evans.

1771 Jeremiah Bobertshaw, Stephen Proctor, John Poole.

1772 Thomas Johnson, John Poole, Thos. Tatton.

1773 T. Johnson, E. Slater, B. Costerdine.

1774 B. Costerdine, B. Seed, B. Swann.

1775 Thos. Taylor, B. Swann, Samuel Bardsley.

In 1766 the numbers in membership were — Haworth
circuit 1536, Birstal 1376, Leeds 1072, York 982, Sheffield
583. This seems to be the total for Yorkshire.

In 1767 Haworth circuit had 1366; 1768—1356; 1769
—1269, but Bradford appears with 732 and Birstal with
859; 1770— Haworth had 1333; 1771—1241; 1772—1219;
1773—1212; 1774— 1213; 1775— 1844; 1776, Keighley,
1640.

BAPTISTS.

WEST LANE CHAPEL, HAWORTH. On a stone is the in-
scription— "This Chapel was erected by voluntary contribu-
tions, and vested in Trustees for the use of the Baptist
Interest, A.D. 1752, and enlarged in the year 1775 by the
same means, under the auspices of the ever memorable, the
late BEV. JAMES HARTLEY, who, through the divine blessing,
raised an interest here, and preached the gospel in this place
27 years." Some of the principal subscribers towards build-
ing the original chapel were Messrs. Greenwood, Bridge
House, J. Horsfall, of Manuels, and M. Heaton, of Birks;
and for its enlargement, W. Greenwood, Oxenhope, G. Green-
wood, Moorhouse, and J. Holmes, Staubury."

It is not known how many members there were during
Mr. Hartley's ministry, but from the fact that iu a quarter of
a century a new building was required, the cause seems to
have made considerable progress. At the close of the Church's
Confession of Faith is the statement — " Settled this 12th day

114 Hau-orth:

of June, ye year of our Lord 1752, in the presence of Mr.
John Johnson, Pastor of ye Church at Liverpool, Mr. Henry
Lord, Pastor of ye Church at Bacup, Mr. Richard Smith,
Pastor of ye Church at Wainsgate." The list of members,
which ought to follow, appears to have been torn out of the
book.

I have a pamphlet, 8vo, iv, 44 pages, doubly interesting:
" The Head-Stone brought forth.

BEING

The SUBSTANCE

OF

TWO DISCOURSES
Occasioned by the Death of

MR. JOSEPH GREENWOOD,

At Bridge-House, near Haworth, Yorkshire,

Who died June 21, 1755.

BY JAMES HARTLEY.

LONDON :

Printed for the AUTHOR, and Sold by G-EORGE KEITH,
at the Bible-and-Crown, in Gracechurch-street. 1755."

There is a preface ' to the Relatives of the Deceased, and
the Flock under my Care.' He says — "After repeated Re-
quests, both from you and some others, to commit them to the
Press, I have prevailed upon myself to comply, though with
very much Reluctance ; being deeply conscious how unable I
am, for anything worthy to see the Light. I am sensible, I
have, in this Compliance, exposed my Weakness, which is not
small. However, this gives me little Concern, if I have not,
herein, exposed that good Cause, for which I desire faithfully
to contend."

The text chosen was Zech. iv. 7. After reaching a
seventhly in the introduction, he considers the text under four
heads.

Past and Present. 115

I. The Work of Saving the Elect is committed to the Saviour,

— our spiritual Zorobabel.

II. Notwithstanding all Opposition, it shall be done.
TTI. The Work is of Grace.

IV. The Completion will afford abundance of Joy.

The first heading has two divisions, having respectively
six and eight sub-divisions.

The second heading has nine divisions, the third has
eight, and the fourth, three, followed by several numbered
remarks, and a brief sketch of Mr. Greenwood's illness and
death. When about sixteen, he was publicly bapti/ed, and
was only in his nineteenth year when he died.

John Fawcett, of Bradford (afterwards the celebrated
Rev. Dr. Fawcett), for two years regularly attended Haworth
Church under Mr. Grimshaw, on sacrament days. Having
imbibed the doctrines of the Baptists, he began, about 1760,
in his twentieth year, to walk from Bradford to Haworth to
hear Mr. Hartley. "March 23rd, 17GO, Mr. Crabtree being
• indisposed, I went to Haworth to hear Mr. Hartley. In the
morning he paraphrased, in a very profitable manner, on
Rom. xii. 9-13. I endeavoured to take down some short
hints, and also of the sermon in the afternoon, from Luke i,
74, 75.

" April 9th, 1700. In the evening and part of the fol-
lowing day we were favoured with the company of Mr. Hartley.
He lodged- at our house. I cannot but admire his abilities,
and esteem his acquaintance a great privilege.

July 16th, 1760. In the afternoon I met with Mr.
Hartley, as he was going to Leeds. He left me a letter re-
specting my desire to enter the ministry."

Mr. Fawcett, in his MS. book — " Outlines of Sermons,"
gives many by Mr. Hartley. For his talents and character he
retained the most sincere respect. Mr. Griinshaw treated
Mr. Hartley with great affection and respect, and frequently
made him a partaker of his liberality. Mr. Hartley sometimes
travelled as far as London to preach, where he was always

116 Haworth:

welcomed. Mr. Fawcett copied in cxteiiso Mr. Hartley's ser-
mon at the ordination of Mr. Wood, at Halifax, in 1760. Mr.
Fawcett says it is superior to anything of the kind lie ever
met with. Mr. Hartley was the medium in pressing Mr.
Fawcett to become pastor at Wainsgate. The latter enters in
his diary — " Wainsgate, May 10, 1764. Yesterday our goods
were removed from Bradford to this place. A number of the
brethren here came with horses, and having met us at Haworth,
conveyed us forwards." Wainsgate Chapel, six or seven
miles over the bleak moor from Haworth, originated with Mr.
Richard Smith, its first pastor, a former hearer of Mr. Griin-
shaw. It was built about 1750, and Mr. Hartley and Mr.
Crabtree went into the ministry from this community.

A Mr. Johnson, of Liverpool, having published animad-
versions on Mr. Smith, of Wainsgate, Mr. Hartley replied in a
pamphlet entitled — " The Trial of Two Opinions Tried." At
the ordination of Mr. Fawcett, Mr. Hartley asked the questions.

Mr. Hartley preached the funeral sermon on the death of
Mrs. Beatson, wife of Rev. John Beatson, of Hull, which was
published.

Mr. Fawcett makes special entry of the decease of his
friend Mr. Wm. Greenwood, of Oxenhope, who died Sept.
30, 1779. His death happened suddenly. A few elegiac
verses on his death are subjoined to Mr. Fawcctt's "Death of
Eumenio," descriptive of his amiable and charitable disposi-
tion, and of the deep interest excited in the neighbourhood, by
the death of one so much beleved as a husband, parent, and
friend. He preached Mr. Greenwood's funeral sermon.

The Reign of Death : a Poem, occasioned by the decease
of the Rev. James Hartley, late of Haworth, by John Fawcett.
With a Funeral Sermon, on the same Occasion, by William
Crabtree. Leeds : Printed by G. Wright and Sou for the
Authors. 1780. Price One Shilling. 8vo. pp. 102.

The Poem is divided into Four Parts, and occupies
86 pages.

Past and Present. 117

Part First— The. Nature and Extent of Death'* Dominion.

Amidst the gloomy darkness of the night,

While the dim taper sheds her feeble light,

Sweet solitude, I seek thy lov'd recess,

To vent those griefs, which mortals can't redress..

Creation now in mourning weeds appears ;

In pearly dews she sheds a thousand tears.

Part Second — Philander' n Death.

Extensive usefulness will not secure
The wasting life of man; or yet procure
A prolongation of its feeble thread;
Philander, * too, is number'd with the dead.

Part Third — Euphronius; or the Death of the Rev. JAMES HARTLEY,
late of Haworth.

Euphronius, partner of my joy and care,
No more, thy gen'rous sympathy, I share,
Thy ear is closed to ev'ry plaintive strain ;
Thy friendly counsels, now, I ask in vain.

* * • * *

'Twas ne'er his aim to mingle with the great ;
He liv'd contented, in a low estate :
Secure from noisy pride's ambitious strife,
Which often poisons all the sweets of life.

* * * «

Euphronius spent his life amongst the poor ;
( 'ontentment was to him a constant store.
The golden bait, he steadily defy'd,
And in his native village liv'd and dy'd.

* * * *

Vast was his stretcli of thought, and large his soul ;
His judgment kept the helm, and could controul
His weaker passions, and the reins command,
In almost ev'ry work, he took in hand.

* * * * ,

No low, dishonest arts, Euphronius try'd,
In terms obscure, his sentiments to hide.
His heart was open, and his language clear,
Suited to gain the inattentive ear.

* Mr. Adam Holden, late of Halifax.

118 Haicort-h:

Wonder and joy alternate seiz'd the soul,
While streams of gospel-eloquence did roll
From his dear lips: and his majestic look,
Prov'd, that he felt the force of what he spoke.
It was a feast divine, with dainties stor'd ;
The richest viands crown the gospel board.

And while he spake, the thunders seem'd to roll ;
Convictive terrors seiz'd the stupid soul.
His just rebuke, the haughty sinner felt ;
The haughty sinner trembled at his guilt;
Before his view, his youthful follies rise ;
His crimes, enormous, reaching to the skies.

* * * *

Calm was his temper, and his soul serene,
With patience arm'd, amidst the trying scene :
No murm'ring thoughts disturb his happy mind;
Like the smooth sea, unruffl'd by the wind,
Its billows sleep; it seems a mighty plain,
And one majestic smile adorns the main.

* * * *

The gath'ring crowds around the corpse attend ;
Each one laments the loss of such a friend ;
The pensive widow heaves the deep'ned sigh,
And briny tears descend from ev'ry eye.

Part Fourth — Death's Dominion destroyed.

15ut see, the mighty Ruler of the day

Advances, with a mild and gentle ray.

I'll quit the solemn theme, suspend the lyre,

Walk o'er the mead, the blooming scene admire ;

Shake, from my bosom, each corroding care,

And taste the sweetness of the balmy air.

The rosy-finger' d morn bedecks the east ;

For ev'ry sense prepares a plenteous feast ;

And jocund day, with gaudy lustre, gilds

The hills and vales, the purling streams and fields.

To merit such eulogium in such strains from the pen of
Dr. Fawcett shows that Haworth had in Mr. Hartley a most
worthy son. Surely Mrs. Gaskell's picture of Haworth people
is very unfair. The reference to Mr. Nicholls, a predecessor
at Coley of good Oliver Heywood, is (juitu misleading. Coley

Past and Present. 119

was not Haworth, and it does not follow that a debauched
curate at the former place influenced the inhabitants there for
two centuries, and is totally absurd to connect it with Haworth
— many miles away.

The ministrations of Mr. Hartley alone could not be lost
upon the people of Haworth, and he was but one of the faith-
ful leaders, as our references to Mr. Grimshaw will show.
Can it be supposed that Mr. Grimshaw's influence at home
was nearly nil when his usefulness is referred to to-day for
nearly twenty miles round. Even such visitors to Haworth as
Dr. Fawcett and the Rev. William Crabtree must have left
indelible impressions on the minds of those who did not avail
themselves of the sermons preached in Haworth Churchyard
by those worthies — Rev. Benjamin Ingham, Rev. John Wes-
ley, Rev. George Whitefield, Rev. Henry Venn, Rev. W.
Romaine, Rev. J. W. Fletcher, and others of their co-workers.

Mr. Crabtree's sermon on the death of Mr. Hartley is
entitled — The Christian Minister's Fareirell to his Flock.

Mr. Hartley was born in 1722. and profited under the
ministrations of Mr. Grimshaw, and Mr. Richard Smith, of
Wainsgate. About 1748 he gathered the church of which he
became the pastor. He was ordained over it, June 12th,
1 752, and retained his office to the time of his death, February
2nd, 1780. The Epitaphium (seemingly by Mr. Crabtree,)
consists of seven verses.

Slowly his earthly frame decay'd,
His end was long in sight ;
Nor was his steady soul afraid
To take her awful flight.

Mr. Hartley, the summer before his death, had a paralytic
stroke.

THE REV. ISAAC SLEE, who had before been a clergyman
of the Episcopal Church at Plumpton, in Cumberland, was Mr.
Hartley's successor. He preached with great acceptance and
sin-cess for about three years. His constitution was delicate,
and being invited to officiate at the funeral of the Rev. R.

120 Haworth:

Smith's widow at Wainsgate, he caught a severe cold, which
terminated in consumption. He died, much lamented,
January 13th, 1784, in the 31st year of his age. At his
request Mr. Crabtree preached on the occasion from Job xix,
25, and Mr. Fawcett delivered the oration at the grave. Mr.
Whitfield, of Hamsterle}-, published an account of his life.
Mr. Slee was ordained August 9th, 1781, at Haworth, when
the Revs. J. Ashworth, J. Hindle, W. Crabtree and C. Whit-
field assisted at the first service; and the Revs. W. Crabtree,
J. Fawcett and S. Medley at the second.

I have a scarce pamphlet, 8vo., pp. 88, entitled "Two
Discourses, on the keeping of the Commandments of Zion's
King, the only Evidence of Love to Him: and, Ananias's
Reprehension and Exhortation to Saul. Published by request.
Newcastle-upon-Tyne : T. Robson and Co., for the Authors."
To the Church of Christ assembling at Hamsterly, Durham,
these etc., are inscribed byC. Whitfield, I. Slee. The preface
is dated September 2nd, 1778. "The keeping, &c." was
"A Farewel— Sermon, dc4ivered inPlumpton Chapel, Cumber-
land; upon Resigning the Perpetual Curacy of that Place,
August 1st, 1779. By the Rev. I. Slee, Master of the Gram-
mar School, Salkeldgate. The text was John xiv, 15. Mr.
Slee gave as his principal reasons for leaving the Establish-
ment, (1) that the Church of England is established by human
laws, having a human, secular head; (2) is of a national form,
diocesan, parochial, &c., comprehending the impious, erroneous,
and profane; (3) the clergy are, in general, irregular in their
lives, and erroneous in their doctrines; (4) their Ordinance of
Baptism is unscriptural ; (5) similarly with regard to the
Lord's Supper; (6) Churching of Women a mere custom, &c.,
and (7) in the Burial Service, classifying reprobates, &c., as
'brethren.'

"Ananias's Reprehension and Exhortation to Saul. A
Sermon, delivered at the Baptism of the Rev. I. Slee ; wherein
the nature and ends are explained, &c., by C. Whitfield. Acts
xxii, 1C." He addressed Mr. Slee as follows : "You have

Past and Present. 121

resigned a place in a popular connection, merely from a con-
scientious regard to the order and institution of the Lord's
house. You have known that neither a liberal education nor
a sacred office, with the prospects of preferments, in a worldly
sanctuary, are sufficient to excuse us in acting contrary to the
will of God and our own consciences. . . Such a singular
event as this, generally excites popular admiration. But with
all due respect to you, Sir, give me leave to observe, that it is
your future conduct, which will reflect the greatest honour
upon this day's transactions. . . . To that considerable
acquisition of classical learning, which you have already
obtained, be daily makiug some addition, more especially in
divine science." "A Hymn, composed by the Rev. I. Slee,
and sung at his Baptism." Nine verses.

(4) Human Inventions kept me blind,
And darkness hover'd o'er my mind,
Till heavenly rays slionc from above,
And Jesus ory'd, — "Dost thou me love?"

(9) In faith and love then me baptize
In this pure fount, and may I rise,
To live by faith, and walk in love,
Till I shall tread thy courts above !

Three pages are taken up with advertizing six of Mr.
Whitfield's pamphlets, and his boarding-school. He offered
to teach ' Country Teachers ' English Grammar in a few weeks.

MR. THOMAS succeeded Mr. Slee, and married his widow
in June, 1785, but she dying of a fever on the 27th of the
following month, he soon after left the district, and resided in
the South.

THE REV. MILES ODDY, in 1785, by invitation, became
pastor. The cause prospered under his ministry. The stone
previously referred to bears the statement — "Israel Sutcliffe,
late of Hawson Hill, gave a sum of money to Mr. Greenwood,
of Bridge-house to erect galleries in this Chapel which, with
the concurrence and approbation of the Trustees, was laid out
for that purpose in the year 1786." Mr. Oddy continued the
pastor upwards of forty-five years, about the last two of which

I

122 Haworth:

he was assisted by the Rev. W. Winterbothom. Mr. Oddy
afterwards removed to Bingley where he died in March, 1841,
aged 85 years, his remains being interred at Haworth. Some
years previous to Mr. Oddy's resignation [1819,] several
individuals in his church and congregation withdrew from his
ministry and established Hall Green Chapel.

THE REV. W. WINTERBOTHOM succeeded as sole pastor,
and was ordained on the 27th of September, 1831, on which
occasion Mr. M. Saunders, of Hall Green Chapel, read portions
of the Scriptures and prayed ; Mr. Jonas Foster spoke on the
nature of a Christian Church, and asked the questions ; Mr.
Godwin, of Bradford, addressed the pastor ; and Mr. Jackson,
of Hebden Bridge, preached to the people ; and Mr. Holroyd,
of Wainsgfite, concluded with prayer.

Mr. Winterbothom resigned in August, 1841, when there
were about eighty members of the Church, and the sittings in
the chapel were nea,rly all let. He annually led a strong
contingency of Dissenters from Haworth to the meeting at
Bradford, called for levying the parish rate ; and successfully
moved the postponement of the rate for twelve-months on
several occasions.

THE REV. A. BURY became minister at Haworth, Decem-
ber 1st, 1844, and left in 1850. The present chapel was built
during his pastorate, 1844. The original chapel had been
enlarged in 1775. It had an endowment of about i'13. The
trustees were also trustees of Stanbury Free School.

REV. MR. KEATS succeeded about Christmas, 1850, and
died at Bristol, December 4th, 1852.

THE REV. J. H. WOOD, of Padiham, formerly mission-
ary in Jamaica, came at Christmas, 1853, and resigned in
March, 1802.

THE REV. MR. ALOIS came in March, 18G2, and left
in October, 1868.

THE REV. MR. HARPER, the present minister, succeeded
in January, 18fif). The chapel has received another enlarge-
ment. They have a, graveyard. Behind the chapel is a large

Past and Present. 123

school. The register of births and deaths commences in 1786.
The Greenwoods and Horsfalls, descendants of the original
founders, are still identified with the Baptists.

THE HALL GREEN BAPTIST CHAPEL (Particular) was
erected in 1825 at a cost of £1700. The separation from the
congregation at West Lane took place a few years previously.
The seceders met in a barn at Bridge House. The REV.
MOSES SAUNDERS, who married Miss Greenwood, of the Bridge
House family, was the first minister. He established an inter-
est at Cullingworth, in 1835. About 1847 the REV. THOMAS
HANSON succeeded. He was for some time at Idel, and died
ut Biugley. Mr. Hanson was at Haworth about six years.
The next minister, REV. JOSEPH THORNTON, a self-educated
man, removed to Accrington about 1803, and there has been
no resident minister at Hall Green since.

There is a Baptist Chapel at Orkingstone, in Oxenhope,
with a large school at Scar Hall.

It is most probable that Haworth derives its name from
How, high, and WORTH, a farm; — "the high farm." It
would seem from this etymology that in Saxon times some
part of the township was under cultivation. It will be
noticed that there are several moorland townships in the
vicinity named worth: — Wadsworth, Oakworth, Cullingworth,
&c. The Worth beck separates Haworth and Oakworth, and
is joined near Haworth Station, by the Oxenhope, or Bridge
House beck. There is a Haworth in Lancashire, which has
given name to an important family. A tradesman's token has
been entered as appertaining to Haworth, near Keighley, but,
I believe, erroneously. It reads: — "Richard Neast, 1664.
In' Hayworth. R. N. £d." There is no difficulty in identifying
the one previously mentioned — "Samvell Ogden, of Haw-
worth, 1670." I have given an extract, p. 13, from Brook's
MSS., stating that Sir C. Danby, 1544, held Haworth.
Being somewhat sceptical on this point, on referring to Harl.
MS. 802, I found that Haworth, als. Hugeworth, is given
under Skirack, and therefore misapplied.

124

Haii'ortJi :

We have but little space to give to a notice of the people.
They have heen represented as more vicious than the inhabi-
tants of most other places. The most marked of their
peculiarities, that which has attracted most attention, and
drawn down unjnst censures and criticisms, is their spirit of
independence. Yet I am not sure that it is more pro-
nounced there than the rest of the West Riding, and I, for
one, am far from censuring it. There is no denying that these
hill-siders are dogged against opposition, and retain many
features considered outlandish. To a "foreigner" they may
be difficult to understand. They are strongly attached to
their native place. Many inducements were offered to tempt
Thomas Parker, the vocalist, to leave his native valley, but of

Past and Present. 125

110 avail. A story is told of an old inhabitant, at a time of
great depression in trade, setting out to seek employment.
At the top of Hawortli Brow, be turned to give a farewell look
at the old village and churchyard. His heart beat and
throbbed, and observing the grey smoke just beginning to
rise from the cottages, he cried out — " Ha worth — dear
Haworth — I will never forsake thee, with thy pure rock water,
and good new milk at three ha'pence a quart." But I cannot
dwell on these traits of character. There is a simplicity
(smart citizens might term them simpletons) rather than a
viciousness more marked in their character. When the streets
were first lighted by gas, the natives are said to have compared
daylight as "a fool to it." The first carriage that climbed
the rugged bank — Kirkgate, was supposed to be a monstre
elephant drawn by horses. So the story runs. " The old
lady" would not ride on the new railway because it was a
single line. She was not going to have to walk back. This
reminds me I must give a touch of Haworth dialect, and it
shall be from BILL OTH HOYLUS END'S History o' Haworth
Railway fro th' Bcijinnin t' th' End, iri an accant o'th
Oppnin Surennini/.

Gather fra Stanbury, lads we yor carrot beds,
Cum daan fra Locker taan lads be th' railway ;
Cum we yor wives, yor dowters, an relatives,
Shout lads, shout for th Worth Valley Railway.

The humorous account of a cow eating the surveyor's plan
then follows :

AVe persperashun on his bra,

He sez good fowk al tell yo na ;

Oud Blue Beard's nasty wizend kaa

Hes swellow'd plan o'th railway

He sed mi blud begins to boil,

To think et we sud work an toil

An even th cattle cannot thoyle

Ta let us hev a railway.

tin hearin this the Haworth foak

Began ta think it wur no joak,

An wisht at greedy kaa ma chouk,

At swallowd th plan oth railway.

126 Haworth:

"Bill" recently printed a broadside on the "vandals
who wished to rebuild the church." It was very personal, and
of little merit, yet of sufficient pungency to induce the
"powers that he" to effect a suppression of its sale in the
village.

Haworth had, till recently, a noted astrologer, who lived
near the Church. Rich and poor came from far and near to
learn wisdom from this professor of the black art. The Rev.
James Whalley, in his interesting tale, " The Wild Moor,"
refers to him. He also gives a picture of the superstitions of
country people, as common at other Yorkshire villages as at
Haworth. " Grace Serious gravely asserted to her neighbours
that ' last night as she was walking thoughtfully along the
footpath which goes direct through the old churchyard at
Haworth, she saw something like a large Angora cat, with long
white fur! When she moved, it moved, and when she stood,
it stood! But, thanks to the heavens! it disappeared in-
stantly as the old church clock in the tower struck twelve.'
The old haunted hall, not far from the rustic habitation of
Grace Serious, has long been unoccupied. Grace declared
that she beheld, with her own eyes, the ghost in the old
churchyard, and a few days afterwards she heard the well-
known voice of the old squire, in the lawn, close by the old
haunted hall. Only recently she has heard, not only the voice
but the step, of the old squire pacing along the old oak gallery
of the now deserted hall!"

Of course, cats and rats cannot be allowed to have such
supernatural influences.

However, we must revert to facts, and leave fancies.

The following list is interesting, as it shows the chief inhabit-
ants of Haworth in 1741. The candidates for the seat of Lord
Morpeth,M. P., deceased, were C. Turner, and G. Fox, Esquires.
The voters from Haworth parish, for Mr. Turner, the success-
ful candidate, were — John Appleyard, John Cousin, Abraham
Denby, Michael and Robert Heat.on, John and Joseph Holmes,
Timothy Horsfall, Robert Pighills, Joseph Pickels of Stan-

Past and Present. 127

bury, and Michael Holdsworth. There voted for Mr. Fox, —
John, John, and William Greenwood; John, John, and
Timothy Hartley; Henry, John, and William Helliwell;
Jeremiah Holmes, John Middleton, William Midgley, Thomas
Murgatroyd, John and Reuben Ogden; Abraham, James,
Michael, and Michael Pickles; John Roberts, Thomas and
William Rushworth, Thomas Westby, James Whalley, Jona-
than and Thomas Whitaker, William Wilkinson, John and
Joseph Wright, James Acroid, Robert and Robert Redman, of
Stanbury, George Taylor, of Stanbury, and Edward Feather,
of O.vup. George Kirton, of Oxup, is also given, but he was
of another Oxenhope, as will be mentioned subsequently.

The township has taken an important position in the
worsted trade.

Mr. James, in his " History of the Worsted Manufac-
ture," states that " the parish of Bradford is the first place in
Yorkshire in which traces of that business has been found,
so far as they have come to the author's knowledge. There
are extant documents in the latter portion of the seventeenth
century, in which parties residing within the parish are des-
cribed as shalloon manufacturers. Among the earliest thus
designated may be mentioned the respectable name of Horsfall,
a family who, possessing small estates in Haworth and Den-
holme, sought addition to their emoluments by carrying on,
along with agricultural pursuits, those of trade. The descend-
ants of these yeomen -manufacturers were among the first to
introduce, at Bradford, the use of machinery in the weaving of
stuffs, and are still ever foremost in promoting the improve-
ment of the worsted manufacture."

Haworth, in 1810, ranked next to Bradford (and before
Leeds and Halifax) in the amount of wool used in the worsted
trade, thirty-two persons being enumerated among the
recipients of drawback, and some of them for high amounts.
This was a remission of the tax on soap used in the business.
James Greenwood received £90 ; Joseph Pighills, £64 ; Sugden
and Heaton, £56; John Feather, £34.

128 Haicorth :

It was calculated that there were, in 1888, twelve hundred
hand-looms in Haworth, and six hundred in Oxenhope,
engaged in worsted weaving, thereby taking a prominent lead
in Bradford district. In 1834, the chief mills engaged were —
Leeming Mill, built about 1790 ; Bridge Mill (John and James
Greenwood), erected about 1793, 16 horse power; Butterfield
and Co.'s Mill, built about 1800, 10 horse power; Oxenhope
Mill (William Greenwood), built about 1807, 8 horse power;
Royd House Mill (Jonas Hird), applied to worsted 1819,
8 horse poAver.

During late years, in common with most Yorkshire vil-
lages, Haworth has had its Local Board of Health (with its
"shines" and "shindies"), Mechanics' Institute, Gas Works,
Water Works, Temperance Society, Good Templars' Lodge,
Conservative Club, Co-operative Societies, and, lastly, its
School Board. It has its summer and autumn fairs, of
ancient standing. The " rushbearing " custom has died out,
but "Thump Snuday " is still kept. Of public buildings, of a
secular character, it has a large Drill Shed, and a small Hall,
the Victoria, belonging to the Odd Fellows. Haworth is a
polling place for the North-West Riding. It will be seen
from the following figures that it is the smallest but one of the
four hamlets that constitute the township, yet it has more
than half of the total population.

Haworth has 1808 acres 3 r. 1 p.

Stanbury 1970 8 1(5

Near Oxenhope 1508 0 4

Far Oxenhope 2820 2 18

Total 8114 0 39

Mrs. Gaskell gives a sad picture of Haworth, quite in
keeping with the rest of her melancholy story. " The village
is built with an utter disregard of all sanitary conditions.
The great old churchyard lies above the houses, and it is ter-
rible to think how the very water-springs of the pumps below
must be poisoiml. But this winter of 1833-4 was particularly

Past and Present.

129

wet and rainy, and there was an unusual number of deaths in
the village. A dreary season it was to the family in the
parsonage : their usual walks obstructed by .the spongy state
of the moors — the passing and funeral bells so frequently
tolling, and filling the heavy air with their mournful sound,
and, when they were still, the 'chip, chip,' of the mason, as
he cut the gravestones in a shed close by." This account
may be more truthful than tasteful. Things improve as time
advances, and we prefer the pleasant walk from the church-
yard, across the fields to Soivden, to morbid melancholy.
Across these fields Mr. Grimshaw passed and re-passed. At
Sowden he lived and died. The old nailed door is a curiosity.
On an out-building is the date — "H. I. 1050." In the

GKIMSHAW'S FLAGONS (p. 73).

kitchen he, with such Methodist preachers as Daniey, William
Sheiit, Benjamin Beaulaud, &c., held crowded prayer-meetings.
In this room the Rev. John Newton, Nov. 14, 1760, addressed
about 150 people, half of whom were Methodists, and half
Baptists. After Mr. Grimshaw's death, Methodism in
Havvorth became so low as to have only eight members, but
in 1805, when the chapel was enlarged, there were 13-1. The
llcv. Charles Wesley spent some days here and at Leeds,
with Mr. Grimshaw, in 1750. The visits of Mr. John Wesley

130 Han-orth:

and Mr. Whitefield have been alluded to. Mr. Grimshaw's
son was addicted to drunkenness until shortly before his death.
After acquiring his father's horse, he used to say " it once
carried a saint, now it carries a devil."

Balcony, a farmstead near the Church, has been rebuilt.
The Horsfalls had it some time. It also bore the name Nopp,
because of two ornamental stone globes at the gables.

Toirn End Farm, the property of General Rawdon, has
a good niullioned window. Cook Yate has been an important
house, now mostly rebuilt. It belongs to Mr. Ferrand. Its
" Nopps " yet remain. In Changegate is a house bearing the
letters — -I.S. A.S. 1671. At the Wesleyan parsonage an
elegant oak chair, formerly Mr. Grimshaw's, is preserved.
Ash Mount, the residence of Amos Ingham, Esq., M.D.. is a
handsome, modern mansion, commanding lovely and extensive
views of the valleys and hills for many miles. The front
portico is of granite and stone, and is a fine specimen of
carving, of elaborate design, performed by Akeroyd Har-
greaves. In the grounds are many stone busts dispersed in
various rockeries, representing the Twelve Disciples, great
heroes, &c. These came from Mr. Peel's remarkable collec-
tion at Windhill, near Bradford. There is a beautiful stained-
glass window in the staircase, representing a waterfall. Dr.
Ingham has a neat pencil drawing by Miss Bronte.

The Old Hall, the property of General Emmott Rawdon,
is at the bottom ol Kirkgatc. It is sometimes called Emmott
Hall. The front view, from a sketch by my friend Mr. W.
Scruton, appears on next page, and the east, by "Ant," is
given on page 38.

Emmott Hall, a capital specimen of an old hall, now
divided into cottages, was for a long time the residence of the
Emmotts, a branch of the Emmotts of Eminott, whose history
appears in Dr. Whitaker's " Whalley." Their arms are given
as a cross, engrailed, between three bulls' heads, embossed. The
present Hall was erected about the time of Elizabeth. The old
entrance hall was a magnificent room, with polished oak rafters.

Past and Present.

131

182

Haworth :

Below the hall was a green, still known as Hall Green.
An old house in Hall Green Fold bears the inscription
"T. M. H. Bought An. Dm. 1724." It was bought by
Timothy Horsfall.

A few yards further was the ancient Ducking Stool Pond,
now contracted into a well, but still known as Ducking Stool.
In the pond that existed here, scolds had the privilege of a few
" ducks " in the water.

DUCKING STOOL,

Brawling women and dishonest bakers had here to suffer
the penalty of the law. Our picture tells its own tale, and a
true one. Mr. Smith, of Morley, has kindly favoured me
with it.

We learn from the poet that the first dip did not always
quieten the quean :

"Down iu the deep the stool descends,
But here, at first, we miss our ends ;
She mounts again and rages more
Than ever vixen did before.
If so, my friend, pray let her take
A second turn into the lake ;

Past and Present. 133

And rather than your patience lose,
Thrice and again repeat the dose.
No brawling wives, no furious wenches,
Xo tire so hot, but water quenches."

The district near is known as Folly Top. Here is Wood-
lands, the residence of John Redman, Esq., manufacturer.
Proceeding on Marsh Lane, we reach the

GRAMMAR SCHOOL.

The Commissioners of Charities report that Christopher
Scott, by will, dated Oct. 4th, 13 Charles I. (1G38), gave a
school house, which he had built on ground adjoining the
church-way,* with an annuity of eighteen pounds a year, pur-
chased of one Cockroft and one Murgatroyd, which he desired
might be, if it was not then already, vested in eighteen or
twelve feoffees at the least, to be chosen of the chief men of
the parish of Haworth, for and towards the maintenance of a
schoolmaster, able and willing to teach his scholars Greek
and Latin in such a manner that they might be fit for either of
the Universities of. Oxford or Cambridge ; and he desired to
have the schoolmaster chosen out of the Universities of Oxford
or Cambridge by all the voices of the feoffees, or at least the
greater part of them, whereof he willed that his brother's heirs
should have a double voice ; and he would have such a one
that was a graduate at the least, or bachelor, if not a master
of arts, and if there were any that should stand to have the
place which should be of his blood, and a sufficient scholar in
manners and learning, he desired that he should be chosen
before another; and if the master should become negligent
and of evil report, it should be lawful for all the feoffees, or
the greater part of them, to expel him, and make choice of
another more worthy ; and he gave to the poor within the
parish of Haworth, for ever, the residue of an annuity which
was purchased of Murgatroyd, which was forty shillings
by the year (more or less) to be distributed among them at

* "Kirk-way," I frequently find, was applied to highways
leading to old churches, though miles distant.

134 Han-orth:

Easter and Christinas.

It appears by a deed, dated Jan. 8, 1665, that the pro-
perty thereby conveyed to now trustees of the school, con-
sisted of the six perches of laud on which the school was built ;
a close called Mytholrne, occupied as three closes; and an
annuity of fourteen pounds, payable by Cockcroft, but no
mention is made in the deed of the annuity of six or four
pounds a year, payable by Murgatroyd. It is probable,
therefore, that the laud at Mytholme was received in lieu of
that annuity.

By deed, dated Oct. 28, 3091, Thomas Cockcroft paid to
the feoffees of the school £265, as the principal money and
consideration of the annuity of £14 a year, and that £200,
part of the money, was placed out upon mortgage, and £65
was lent upon bond; and it further appears by a deed, dated
August 17, 1713, that £115 was laid out in the purchase of a
messuage and certain lands, Heyley-field (now called High
Binus), which were conveyed by that deed to the feoffees.

By the deed of conveyance to new trustees, dated April
24 and 25, 1791, the properties were conveyed to eighteen
trustees (of whom seven were living when the report was
made), and consisted of the said six perches, with a school-
house thereon, near the lower end of a lane leading to Oxen-
hope, and a messuage or tenement called the Mytholme, with
the buildings and closes thereto, within Haworth; and a
messuage called the Mould-greave, with the buildings and
closes of land thereto, in Oxcnhope, formerly purchased of
Benjamin Ferrand, Esquire; and a messuage called the High
Binns, with the buildings and closes of land thereto, in Oxen-
hope, formerly purchased of Jeremy Pearson, upon trust, to
pay the rents, &c., to the schoolmaster, and that when the
trustees should be reduced to the number of twelve, the sur-
vivors should elect six other persons out of the chief men of
the parish, or reputed parish, or township of Haworth, and
convey the premises to the use of the surviving and newly-
elected feoffees.

Past and 1'resent. 135

At the making of the report the property consisted of a
school, which was enlarged in 1818, and a house for the
master adjoining, which was erected in the same year hy the
trustees; a messuage called Mytholmes, with a small harn and
about ten acres of land in Haworth, let to Thomas Sugden, as
yearly tenant, at the annual rent of eighteen pounds ; a house
and barn called the Mould-greave, with twelve acres of old-
enclosed land, and an allotment of fourteen acres or thereabouts,
let to Joseph Biuus as yearly tenant at £31 per annum; part
of the allotment is moorland, and not yet converted into
tillage; a messuage called High Biuns, with a barn and about
seven acres of land, let to Mr. Wright as yearly tenant at the
annual rent of £'19. The property is let at the full annual
value, and the land-tax has been redeemed out of the surplus
rents. The sum of £100 was borrowed about ten years ago
for the purpose of improving the land, building the school-
house, and making other repairs, and the further expense of
building the house was defrayed with money retained out. of
the rent. The salary of £60 a year is paid to the master,
and the surplus rent, £8, is applied to defray the interest on
the £100, and necessary repairs.

The present master, who had previously had the school
at Harehill, near Keighley, was appointed at Midsummer,
1826; and he instructs the children of all the inhabitants of
the chapelry of Haworth who apply for admission, both boys
and girls, in reading, writing, and arithmetic. The master is
competent to teach Latin, but he is not a graduate of either of
the Universities, and though a man of considerable attain-
ments, is not duly qualified as teacher of a grammar school ;
we find, however, that the school has not for a long time been
maintained as a regular grammar school; that there is little or
no demand for a classical education ; and that from the situa-
tion of the school and the amount of the endowment, it would
.be difficult to support the institution, or procure a proper
master, and we are induced to conclude that the trustees did
the best in their power for the charity, in the appointment of

136 Haworth:

the present master. There are about 200 scholars in the
school, some of whom are extremely young, and attend to be
taught the alphabet; he teaches them with the assistance of
his son. It seems right some qualification for admission
should be insisted upon.

The list of masters (as usual) is most incomplete. Mr.
Summorscales, of Keighley, machinist, held the post for some
time. Also the Rev. Mr. Cranmer, and the Rev. J. B.
Grant. The Rev. W. Patchett, M.A., is the present master,
and the school is conducted as is usual at Grammar Schools.
Scholars from this school of late years have attained particu-
lar emincncy; some entering the ministry, and others the
medical profession. An Oxenhope youth (Preston) got the
"Brown" scholarship at Bradford, and afterwards the
" Hastings."

The school, especially the great ecclesiastical east window,
has an ancient .appearance, but the interior seems far behind
our ordinary government schools in furniture and attractive-
ness.

Mr Scott, the founder, was a clerynian, I believe.

I have been much struck by the many instances we have
in the Haworth valleys and hills of Scandinavian names. We
shall only be able to note them in the form of an itinerary.

Passing over the Worth, from Oakworth, \>y rail, we may
name Mytholm and Lower Mytholm, with a worsted mill.
We thus begin with evidence of Norse settlement, 'holm' being
the Scandinavian word for fenny ground, ' Mytholm ' means
'middle holm.' Mytholm Lane leads to Haworth village.
Greenfield House is near. What a contrast between the
Saxon Greenfield House, and the Norse Mytholm ! The Lees
Sike forms the township's boundary a short distance. Here
we have both nations represented: ' Lees,' Saxon for meadows,
and 'Sike,' Scandinavian for watercourse. Sikes Lane passes
near Ebor worsted mill, Ebor House, Ebor Lane (having at
the corner a stone notifying private rights), Primitive Metho-
dist Chapel (a handsome structure), Mill Hey, Mill Bridge,

Past and rresent. 137

Railway Station, Mill Hill (with footroad to Haworth village),
Corn Mill, Belle Isle to Bridge House, with its worsted mill.
'Hey 'is an Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian word signifying
'enclosure or boundary.' 'Ebur,' as an old name, indicated
the 'wild boar.'

The Toller Lane, or Haworth and Blue Bell Trust,
passes near Haworth Old Hall, Hall Green Baptist Chapel,
Bunker's Hill, Bridge House, Haworth Brow, The Keys,
Brow Moor Top, Brow Slack, Shreads, Brow Moor Edge and Noon
Nook to Flappit Springs and Stump Cross. Laverock Hall
(Saxon for 'lark') is over the boundary. The Brow indicates
the forehead, or edge. Slack means ' flat highland.' The rustic
bridges over the beck form interesting features in the land-
scape. The steep hills are terraced by the continuous tread
of the cattle.

On the left, passing up the Leeds and Hebden Bridge
Turnpike, we have Hawkclifte, a boundary stone marked 0
(Manor of Oxenhope), Far North Ives Bottom, Naylor Hill,
Cote Hill Wood, tipper Royd House, Royd House, with a
worsted mill, Cat stones, sandstone delves, Cuckoo Park,
Ive Stones (over the boundary being the celebrated Castle
Stead Ring), North and South Birks, Crockhouse Wood,
Lower and Upper Hayley, Bentley Hey, Hey End, Crumock,
Black Moor, and Armshaw Lowe. In this list we have Cote,
' a sheep cote ' ; Eves, Saxon for ' edge ' ; Cat, Cymric coed, ' a
wood/ or Scandinavian (/at, 'a passage'; Shreads, Scandinavian
for 'rock'; Royd, 'ridding or cleared land'; Birks, 'the birch
trees' ; Hey, 'enclosures' ; Crumock, 'crooked oak,' or Crumbeck,
'crooked stream' ; Shaw, 'a wood' (Scandinavian) ; and Lowe, 'a
hill.'

Nc;'.r Dark Lane (old, narrow, and overgrown) we reach
Oxeuhope Lower Town, with its bridge and mills, Woodhouse,
Gate Lane, Intake End, Summcrfield Villa, the residence of
Mr. W. ]>iuns, High Binns, and Elm Laith. Intake indi-
cates the land 'taken in' from the moor; Oxenhope derives
its name from the Scandinavian hope, a sheltered spot between

j

138 llaieorth:

bills, or on the side of a hill, and either oxen, ' the animals,' or
onsen, 'water.' Beck is Scandinavian for 'a rivulet.' Binns
may come from the Scandiavian, bit/riens, 'buildings.' Laitb
is Scandiavian for 'barn.'

Passing up Leeming Lane, we notice Height, Black Moor,
Clutch, Tansey End, Scar Hall, Scar Top, with its old
houses, Springs, Butteryate Syke, Lamb Inn, Hawking Stone,
with a Baptist Chapel, Bradshaw Head Lane, Whinny Hill
Foot, Sawood, with Wesleyan Sunday School, and Cobling.
Whinny Hill is in Denholme, beyond the ancient Denholme
Park Boundary Wall, as is also the Sentry Box, formerly
used to signal war news to and from Swilling and Beacon
Hills. Thornton Moor forms the next boundary.

Scar is a Scandinavian word, meaning ' a steep rock.'
Whinny takes its name from ' whins,' furze.

On the right of Leeming Lane are Charles' Mill (wor-
sted)— a man named Charles lived near; Lee Hill,

Leeming, Leeming Water, Lily Hill, Box Hall, Midge Holme
Beck, Leeming or Midge Holme Mill, which stood about the
centre of the present Leeming Reservoir; Isles Lane, Upper,
Lower, and Farther Isles, Nan Scar Beck, Far and High Fold,
Stoney Hill Clough, Throstle Nest Mill, pulled down on
constructing the Leeming Reservoir; Pikely Hills, Foster
Dyke, Crags, Doll Clough, Doll Bridge, Bank Nook, White-
hill coalpit, Hey Bottom, Moorside, Whiteshaw, Delf Hill,
Solomon's Temple, a capricious name ; Hambleton, Knoll
Bottom, The Hoys, and Paddock End.

Nant is a Cymric word meaning a ' beck in a narrow
valley,' and is the probable etymology of Nan Scar; Fold is
Scandinavian for 'enclosure' ; Clough indicates ' a stony valley' ;
Pikeley Hills is a curious instance of tautology — Pike, Scan-
dinavian for ' peak ' ; lan-e has the same meaning. Rawnsley
and Tingley were originally spelt ' Ravenslawe ' and 'Thinglawe' ;
Doll is from the Scandinavian dtilil, 'a valley,' or, dole, 'common
pastures ' ; Hoys is a Scandinavian word for 'bills' ; Nab, Knab,
is from the same language, and means ' rising ground '; Knoll

Past and Present. 139

is from the Anglo-Saxon cnul, ' round hill.'

Beginning at Lower Town again, we meet with Best
Lane Bottom, Goose Green (indicating the place where the
inhabitants had the right of turning geese upon the common),
Wadsworth Mill, Back o'th Hill, Great and Little Hill Houses,
Bull Hill Mill, Crossley Bridge, Paul Clough, Hill House
Edge, and Lane, Rough Top, Hill House, Wildgreave Head,
Moore Close Hill, Sunny Bank, Peat Lane, Pickles Rough,
Peats Rough, Hough Lot, Stake Hill, Will's Allotment,
Bentley Cellar, Foul Clough, Buck's Allotment, Davidson's
and Bentley's Allotments, Wet Hill, Woodcock Hall, Nab
Hill (1473 feet high), Nab Water, Nab Rough, Nab Scar
Delf, Nab Water Rough, Nab Lane (parts of Oxenhope
Moor), Rushworth's and Greenwood's Allotments, Red Carr
Popples, Whitemoor Lane, Sawood Lane, Wildman Lane,
Shady Bank and Sawood Moss. Over the boundary are
Ovenden and Warley Moors, with such names as Fly, Cold
Edge, and Fill Belly Flat. Haver cake will be acceptable in
that region.

Stake is another new name, and this again is of Scan-
dinavian origin, meaning ' rocky.' Pickles, or Pighells, is
Saxon for ' enclosed lands.' Sawood means probably 'south
wood.' Paul and Poll are evidently from the German ptthel,
'a hill.' Wilgreave is equivalent to 'willow grove.' Dike is
Saxon for 'a ditch.' Rough and Grough mean 'uncultivated.'
Paul Clough, in 1868, had numerous visitors to hear a night-
ingale that made a casual settlement there.

Passing up the Lees and Hebden Bridge Turnpike, from
Lower Town, we have on the left hand — Aberdeen, Intake
Lane, Dike Nook, Rough Top, Spring Hall, Keeper's Lodge,
Little Cock Hill, Great Grough Hole, Holden Clough Beck,
Lord's Allotment, Cock Hill Stoops (boundary stones), and
Long Dike, adjoining Midgley Moor.

It was on Cockhill that Benjamin Foster, of Denholme,
lost his life, through the inclemency of the weather, Feb. 4th,
1831, aged 22 years. The incident is touchingly told in

140 Ilaworth :

"The Wild Moor."

Near the gamekeeper's house is a stone over the grave
of two clogs, with the inscription: —

"Here lieth a faithful old dog, called Don —
A better, stone was ne'er laid upon ;
He was true to his game, and true to his master :
Reader, his equal, I doubt, will not be after.

Died on Cockhill, May, 1845, aged 13 years. Shot over by Jame«
Walton, Halifax, 12 years.

Also Betty, sister to the above, died Nov. 1846, aged 12 years."

Near Oxenhope Church is Westcroft Head (the residence
of Mr. J. Foster Horsfall), Top of Stones, Hard Nese Lane
and Clough, Wagon and Horses Inn, Grey Stones, Holden
Hill and Lane, Rag Clough Beck, Long Ridging, Rennet
Lane, Slack, Bank Lane, Low Fold, Green Lane, Hill Top,
Penny Poll, Sun Hill, Sun Hill Clough, Deep Dike, Top of
Stairs, Stairs Swamp, Stairs Hole and Lane, Stoneheap
Stoop (1397 feet high), Red Dike Swamps, Cock Hill Swamp,
Yeoinan Hill, Bodkin Top and Lane. On Bodkin Lane we
find Stairs Bottom, Rag Clough Beck, Old Cote, Dunkirk
(worsted mill), Brooksmeeting Mill (Leeshaw and Rag Clough
Becks meet here), Leeshaw Reservoir, Great Stones (an old
residence of the Feather family), Cold Well, Shaw, Weetshaw,
Shaw Lane, Hawks Bridge, Moorside Lane, Lee Lane, Marsh
Lane, Hoyle Sike (a remarkahle gully), Baptist Sunday
School at Pinhill End, Pinfold House, Cote, Moorhouse Beck,
Mouldgreave, the residence of the Rushworth family, and Rush-
worth mill. Mouldgreave is worthy of a visit. There is some
old oak furniture dated, the lord's pew from Haworth Church,
&c. The house bears date W. S. R. 1742. I find that the
fashionable ' not at home ' refusal to see a visitor has at least
one disciple in Haworth township. Rushworth Mill seems
more like a barn with a cottage chimney than what we now
understand by a mill. It is tenanted by a manufacturer of
band and dry soap. The inscription reads —

Past and Present. 141

"W. M. R.

The Fisher'a Lodge 1808.
Repent no grievances, but
Study to be quiet, and
Mind your own business."

The angler will find "light" fishes (to use the local
word meaning feic] in the stream.

Continuing our bird's-eye view we have Marsh Wcsleyan
School, Moorhouse (Murrus in the native language), Moor-
house Lane and Bridge, Upper Town, National School, Weasel
Lane, The Cross (the original stone, face downwards, is
pointed out in a wall near the houses), Oxenhope Railway
Station (Terminus), Oxenhope Worsted Mill, North Ives
(Nordice is the local pronunciation), Moorhouse Beck, joining
the Leeming Water, and subsequently known as Bridge House
Beck, Bents, Low Marsh, Marsh End, Stubbing Gate to
Ducking Stool.

On the left of Bodkin Lane and its continuations, Lee,
Marsh, and Stubbing Lanes, are — Green Holes Hill and
Clough, Bond Hill and Clough, Little Stairs Brink, Stairs
Hill, Stoop Hill, Holmes Intake, Spa Hill and Clough,
Wether Hill Clough, Dry Clough, Leeshaw Water and Reser-
voir, Windle House, Westhouse (old mill), Bodkin Rough,
Low Bodkin, Upper, New, and Old Westfields (residence of
the Horsfalls), Stanbury Height, Grove Hill Dike, Penistono
Slack and Hill, Higher Marsh, Field Head Lane, Hanging
Gate Lane, Oxenhope Mill and House, The Grammar School,
whence we started on this etymological journey. The new
names in the last list include — Naes, Saxon for ' headland ' ;
Pen, British for 'hill'; Bod, Gaelic for 'a bushy place' ; Bents,
'a common' ; Stubbing and royd, 'cleared land' ; Bond, Scandin-
avian for ' boundary ' ; Marsh, ' swampy land ' ; Stairs, ' the
ascent'; Hoyle, 'hole.'

Oxenhope is a straggling village in a narrow valley, as
its name indicates. It is an ecclesiastical parish in Haworth
township. Its Church, dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin, was
built in 1849. The following particulars are taken from "A

142

Haworth :

Memorial of the Church," by the Rev. Joshua Fawcett, M.A.,
12 pages, 12 mo., Bradford, 1850, price 6d. The profits
arising from the Sale of the Memorial were appropriated to the
purpose of erecting a Parsonage House, at Oxenhope. The
district for ecclesiastical purposes was formed under Sir
Robert Peel's Act, and includes Far and Near Oxenhope. The
date of the formation was 1845, and the first incumbent (being
also the present one), was the Rev. Joseph Brett Grant, B.A., of
Emanuel College, Cambridge. Mr. Grant commenced his
labours in a 'wool-combing shop,' which became too small.
He then raised funds for a Day and Sunday school, and
shortly afterwards began to agitate for a church. A handsome
manse followed. The foundation stone of the Church was
laid Feb. 14, 1849, and the building was consecrated Oct.
llth, in the same year, by the Bishop of Ripon. It is a
massive, stone building, a good specimen of early Norman,
and forms a prominent feature in the landscape. The general
outline of the building is in strict harmony with the scenery,

Past and Present. 143

and reminds us more of a structure of long by-gone times,
than one of yesterday's erection. There is something quite
unique in the whole design. The stonework has been put
together without any reference to regular coursing, and is in
admirable keeping with the whole coup d' ceil. It is in the
Anglo-Norman in its severest form, utterly devoid of all orna-
ment as a fabric. Its plan comprises a tower, nave, north
aisle and chancel, with the sacristy on the north side.
Dimensions : Tower, 22 feet square ; Nave, 48 feet by 24
feet 9 in. ; Aisle, 01 feet by 8 feet 2 in. ; Chancel, 29 feet by
14 feet; Height of tower, 44£ feet. Cost of the building
£930, site and walling £218 additional. It affords accommoda-
tion for 437 persons, one hundred of whom are reckoned
children. There is a register and bell. The living, valued at
£150, with residence, is a vicarage, in the gift of the Crown
and Bishop, alternately.

The population of Oxenhope is on the decrease : 1861 it
was 2880; 1871—2512. In 1821 Far Oxenhope had 1467,
and Near Oxenhope 705 inhabitants. The railway was opened
in April, 1867.

The manorial rights passed from Joseph Greenwood,
Esq., of Spring Head, to Captain Edwards, by purchase.
The late Captain Joseph Priestley Edwards was son of Henry
L. Edwards, J.P. He was captain of the 2nd W. Y. Yeomanry
Cavalry, and resided at Fixby. He and his eldest son were
killed at the Abergele accident, 1868. His second son, Lea
Priestley Edwards, Esq., married his own cousin, Emily,
daughter of Sir H. Edwards, in 1873. The Horsfalls,
Fosters and llushworths were formerly large land-
owners. A pew at Haworth Church is marked as having
belonged to the Rev. Mr. Horsfall, for property at Lower Town.

The following is the pedigree of Adam de Oxenhope,
otherwise called Adam de Batloy.

Adam Copley ; - Ann, dr Thos. de Rish worth

144 Haicorth :

Hugh = Margaret de Liverscdge

Adam,
Rafe = Jane de Stansfield Rector of Halifax.

Adam = Ann, dr. John de Leventhorpe

Thomas Copley de Batley = Winifred Mix-field

Hugh = Ann, dr. Sir Robert Cromwelbotham, Knt.

Raphe = (1) Ellen, dr. John dc Rookes ; Helen — Henry Savile
= (2) dr of Adam Batley

Raphe John Adam C. de Batley — Jane de Oxenhope
obit s.p. ob.s.p. alias de Oxenhope

Richard C. de Batley = dr. Sir John Hntton, Knt.

Sir Richard = (1) Margaret, dr. Sir Ric. Denton

I = (2) Elizabeth, dr. Sir John Harrington

Lionel = Jane William Copley, Doncaster.

d. 1489 I Thwaites

Past and Present. 145

John — . Agnes Pigot

John, d 1543, = Margaret, dr Sir Bry. Stapleton

Alvary, J.P. d 1598, aged 72 = Jane Beaumont.

The following tit-bit is sometimes placed to the credit of
this village, but erroneously, as it is Oxenhope Hall, near
York, that is referred to. George Kirton, Esq., of Oxnop
Hall, died in 1709, aged 125 years. He was a most remark-
able fox hunter, following the chase on horseback till his 80th
year, and from that period till his 100th year, he regularly
attended the unkennelling of the fox, in his single chair. It
is a pity to lose this note for our Oxenhope, but it cannot be
helped.

The Rev. James Whalley, of Leeds, formerly of Cross
Stone, a native of Oxenhope, published, in 1869, "The Wild
Moor: A Tale Founded on Fact," 104 pages. He gives an
interesting account of his journey "Over th' Stairs," the
peculiarities of moor travelling, loss of lives in snow-storms,
the moors in summer, disruption of Crow Hill Bog, return
over the moors in a storm, in "Jake o' Isaac's" covered cart,
and other particulars. The following is his notice of Thomas
Parker, whose portrait I have been at some pains to obtain for
this book, and am pleased to be able to present so correctly.

"There was, a few years ago, in this district, an eminent
vocalist, whose matin-song was sweet as that of the morning
lark, and even-song melodious as that of the nightingale.
Rich and poor, young and old, came to hear the sweet and
mellow tones of 'the local star.' Did I say 'the local star'?
Nay, he shone not only in the narrow valleys, and all around
the dark borders of 'the wild moor,' but the brightness and
brilliancy of this star was seen and wonderfully admired even
within the walls of that ancient and sacred edifice — York Min-
ster. He was celebrated for the sweetness and excellence of

146 Haicorth:

his tenor voice. Home years ago he was solicited to sing in
the Crystal Palace, when he excused Limself on the ground of
old age and its infirmities. He neither cared for nor sought
popularity at any period of his life. Still this distinguished
amateur considered it his duty to perform ' home duties '
rather than render 'foreign services.' He frequently sang
(Sundays excepted) at oratorios, concerts, &c., in different
parts of the country," but his Sunday services were chiefly
confined to ' the wild moor ' district. The ' charity season '—
if I may so call it — extended from the first Sunday in May to
the end of September. On one Sunday the famous singer was

engaged for St. , next St. , next II , next B ,

next Mount Zion, next M side, next H stone, next St.

next Ebene/er, next H green, next J , next

S Top, and so on till the end of the season. S Top

charity [that is, Sunday School Anniversary Sermons,! takes
place under the broad Canopy of heaven. There is a sheltered
nook close by North Beck, and a sod platform is there erected.
No fewer than 3000 people assembled in this obscure place at
the festival of 1808 ! Ebenezer never failed to procure his
valuable services. It happened on one occasion that the select
piece of music sung by the distinguished amateur was, ' Why
doth the God of Israel sleep?' from Sampson, which he sung
with that marked degree of taste and refinement for which he
was so celebrated. He acquitted himself to the entire satis-
faction and delight of the crowded audience, and, but for the
sacredness of the place, he would no doubt have elicited an

encore It is remarkable that the last time this

celebrated man sang in public was at a soiree in connection
with 'Ebene/-'!1.' After a short illness, he died in his
eightieth year, his remains being followed to the grave by all
the professors of the divine art in the neighbourhood, as well
as by scores of amateurs and admirers."

One more stroll and our itinerary will be concluded. It is
the favourite routo taken by the Bronte sisters. They had
but to pass three stiles from the parsonage, and their feet trod

Past and Present. 147

the loved mocrlands, or they strolled along the highway to
Stanbury. The Worth runs down the valley to the right, and
Oakworth stretches for miles beyond. Passing up West Lane,
with the Baptist and Wesleyan Chapels in it, near neighbours,
we reach the Pinfold, Oldfield Gate, Lord Wood, Scholes Hip-
pings (stepping stones across the stream), Bough Nook,
Hollins (with worsted mill), The Dike, Dimples End Quarry,
Lumb Foot Mill (worsted), Milking Hill, Sladen Beck (rises
near Stanbury Withins), Sladen Bridge and Stanbury.

Scholes is from a Scandinavian word meaning ' hut ' ;
Sladen is the ' slead dean,' which in Anglo Saxon meant a ' strip
of land between woods, in the hollow or bottom, or valley.'
Lumb indicates 'a wooded valley.' Withins, probably, is so
named from an abundance of willows. Stanbury is undoub-
tedly derived from stan, 'stony,' and burgh, ' a hill.' This name
indicates a Roman encampment. The village is seated upon
the very pinnacle of a precipitous hill, well cultivated to the
summit. The appearance contrasts strangely with the sur-
rounding treeless moorlands. Stanbury is still in Bradford
Manor, though separated many miles from the rest of that
manor, and until the beginning of this century the land was
mostly copyhold. The inhabitants in early times were mostly
natiri, or bondmen, subject to the Lord of the Manor. There
is a story told, — evidently fictitious, as Staubury had the name
centuries before Oliver Cromwell's birth, — that the Protector on
entering the village enquired of the inhabitants the name of
the place. The answer was " Bury," to which Cromwell replied,
"I say, Stand Bury," hence Stanbury. Abraham Dugdale and
others are said to have kept forty or fifty horses here as
earners. There was considerable traffic on this road between
Lancashire and Yorkshire in former times, especially by
drovers. The Waggon and Horses Inn and Cross Inn were
much frequented at that time. The Wesleyans have a chapel
here, and there is a Church school. The free school at Stan-
bury, with a house for the master, was built by subscription
in 1805, and endowed by the same means with £600, secured

148 Haicorth:

on the tolls of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, at 5 per cent,
interest, for which, and the use of the school and house, the
master teaches ahout sixty free scholars. It is partly vested
in trust with the trustees of the Baptist Chapel, at Haworth,
and is free for reading, writing, and arithmetic, to all the
children of Stanbury, or Haworth, above the age of six years.

Near Oldfield House is a grave, the headstone of which
bears this inscription: — "In memory of Mr James Mitchell,
late proprietor and occupier of Oldfield House, who died on
the 27th day of January, 1885, aged 72 years." A rough,
unpolished stone, weighing about a ton, rests on the grave.
It was formerly half-embedded fifty yards above its present
resting place. Mr Mitchell, shortly before his death, had this
stone rolled down the hill. When it stopped rolling he said
to his servants, — "There I will be buried." The tomb is
surrounded by a wall. Thousands assembled to see the
funeral.

Continuing our peregrination we meet with Stanfield
Well, near Stanbury, Clough Hole, Dale Moor, Lower Laithe,
Intake, Waterhead Lane, Clogger Well, Smith Bank Bridge
(old worsted mill), Enfield, Black Leech, The Slack, Enshaw
Knoll, Sand-delf-hill, Utley Spring, Jos. Hill, Lumb Beck
(with waterfalls), The Level, Rockhead Hill, Round Hill,
Harbour Hill, Harbour Hole, Harbour Hole Brink, Oxenhope
Edge, Harbour Slack, Harbour Scars, Harbour End, Limers-
gate, Edge Nick, Sheep Cote, Carr Grough, Deep Nick
Swamp, Deep Nitch Water, Oxenhope Stoop Hill (1452 feet
high, near Oxenhope Edge), Dick Delf Hill, Hollow Height,
Rushbed Top, Black Dike, Crumber Dike, Crumber Hill,
Withins Foot.

Beginning again at Stanbury, we have on the left bank of
Sladen Beck— Hob Hill, Back Lane, Cold Knoll, Bully Trees,
Pollard Wood, Southdean Bottoms, Cuckoo Stone, Keelam,
Newton Dean Side, Virginia, Forks House, Sandy Hill,
Scar Hill, Upper and Lower Heights. Master Stones, Flaight
Hill, Pike Stone, Goaten Hole, Goaten Hill, Withins Slack,

Past and Present. 149

Jack House, Bentley Scar, Bentley Hole, Withins, Near
Fosse, Far Fosse, Rough Dike, New Dike, Intakes, Wilkins
Flat, Noonen Stones, Green Hall, Bound Hill, Top of Cain
(the boundary), Withins Height (in Wadsworth), 1504 feet,
Withins Height (in Haworth), 1450 feet, Blue Scar Clough,
Alcomden Stones (circular), Site of Harry House, Middle
Moor Clough, Middle Moor, Middle Moor Hill and Flat, Duck
Dam, Red Mires Flat, Stanbury Bog, Upper and Lower Ridge
Green, The Sage of Crow Hill, The Grough of Crow Hill,
Crow Hill, 1401 feet high, with boundary stones showing the
division between Lancashire and Yorkshire.

On Tuesday, the 2nd of September, 1824, there happened a
dreadful eruption of a bog at Crow Hill, which kept the water of the
river Aire in such a turbid state, that for sometime it could not be
used at Leeds, or any other place, either for culinary or manufactur-
ing purposes. Three days after the commencement of the disruption,
the Rev. Mr. Bronte, of Haworth, sent a letter to the Leeds Mercury-
office, stating that he believed it to be the effect of a severe earth-
quake ; but as no agitation had been felt in the neighbourhood, this
supposition was not generally accepted. The Editor, who visited
the spot a few days afterwards described it in the Leeds Mercury, as
follows:— "Crow- Hill, the scene of this phenomenon, is about 9
miles from Keighley, and 6 from Colne, at an elevation of about
1,000 feet above the former place. The top of the moor, which in
nearly level, is covered with peat, and other accumulations of
decayed vegetables of a less firm texture; the whole appeared
saturated with water, and in most places trembled under the tread
of the foot. The superfluous water, at the east end of the Moor
drained into small rivulets at the bottom of a deep glen or gill, down
a precipitous range of rocks, which presented the appearance of a
gigantic staircase. This rivulet passes down the valley to Keighley,
and enters the Aire, near Stockbridge, about a mile below that town.
At the distance of about 500 yards from the top of the glen, the prin-
cipal discharge seems to have taken place : here a very large area, of
about 1.200 yards in circumference, is excavated to the depth of
from 4 to 6 yards ; and at a short distance from this chasm there is a
similar excavation, but much less in extent. These concavities have
been emptied, not only of their water, but also of their solid contents.
A channel about 12 yards in width, and 7 or 8 in depth, has been
formed quite to the mouth of the gill, clown which a most amazing
quantity of water was precipitated, with a violence and noise of
which it is difficult to form an adequate conception, and which was

150 Haicorth:

heard to a considerable distance. Stones of an immense size and
weight were hurried by the torrent more than a mile. It is
impossible to form any computation of the quantity of earthy
matter which has been carried down inte the valley ; but that it is
enormous is evident from the vast quantities deposited by the
torrent in every part of its course, and from the great quantity
which our river still contains. This destructive torrent was
confined within narrow bounds by the high glen through which
it passed, until it reached the hamlet of Pondens, where it expanded
over some corn fields covering them to the depth of several feet ; it
also filled up the mill-pond, choking up the water-course, and
thereby putting an entire stop to the works. A stone bridge was
also nearly swept away at this place, and several other bridges in its
course were materially damaged ; we feel happy, however, in being
able to state, that it was not fatal to life in a single instance. The
torrent was seen coming down the glen before it reached the
hamlet, by a person who gave the alarm and thereby saved the lives
of several children, who would otherwise have been swept away.
The torrent at this time presented a breast of 7 feet high. The
track and extent of this inundation or mud may be accurately
traced all the way from the summit of the hill to the confluence of
the rivulet with the Aire, by the black deposit which it has left on its
banks. The first bursting of the Bog took place at C o'clock in the
evening of Thursday, the 2nd iust., and another very considerable
discharge occurred on the following day, about 8 in the morning,
and it is highly probable that other extensive portions of the Bog
will, from time to time hereafter, be discharged into the Aire in a
similar manner. No human being was on the spot to witness the
commencement of this awful phenomenon, and of course we cannot
arrive at an absolute degree of certainty as to its cause ; the most
probable one, is the bursting of a water-spout. The suddenness
and violence of the disruption strongly favours this supposition, tt
would evidently require a power acting with a great degree of
momentum to move and break in pieces the large and almost solid
masses of peat and turf which were forced down the hill, to say
nothing of the detached rocks which were moved. The state of the
atmosphere about the time when the disruption took place, also
renders this solution highly probable, the air being fully charged
with electric matter. 'At the time of the irruption,' says Mr.
Bronte, 'the clouds were copper coloured, gloomy, and lowering;
the atmosphere was strongly electrified, and unusually close.'
These appearances, as they indicated, were followed by a severe
thunder storm, during which it is more than probable, that some
heavily loaded clond poured its contents upon the spot. We may
add, in support of this hypothesis, that more water seems to have

Pant and Present. 151

been sent down the glen than could have been supplied by the
contents of the two bogs which have been excavated. But,
perhaps, a, still more important inquiry is, what can be done to
prevent :v recurrence of similiar irruptions? This is rather ;>
difficult question ; there is, however, no doubt but the drainage of
the Moss would remove the danger, as no instance exists of either
the bursting or floating away of a drained bog. Probably the
channels now made, should they remain open, will give the
requisite stability to the peaty soil. "

This account was reprinted as a broadside. It was also
stated that the inundation was very fatal to the fish, which were
suffocated by it in large quantities. There were four eruptions
on the following Thursday. A gentleman who witnessed the
last of them thus describes it: — About a quarter to seven
o'clock in the evening the phenomenon began to exhibit itself.
On approaching the cavity, or canal, made by the former
eruptions, and which is now about three quarters of a mile in
length, he and his friends perceived a vast body of peaty
earth in motion, impelled by the water in the rear. Soon the
substance became stationary, and remained in that state for
about ten minutes. By and by it was again in motion down
the channel very gradually, all the while receiving fresh accessions
of mud and peat, till at length the \vhole cavity was filled.
Having at length reached the precipice, it rushed over the
steep with a tremendous noise, and the discharge was distinctly
heard at the distance of four miles. How long the flow continued
he could not say, but he heard it for an hour at least after he
quitted the place. From bis examination he conceives that a
body of peat moss is loosened by these disruptions to the
extent of a mile in circumference, and the prevailing opinion
on the spot is that this enormous mass will come away before
the discharge from Crow Hill will finally close.

The following is an extract from Mr. Bronte's sermon.

"I would avail myself of the advantages now offered for
moral and religious improvement, by the late earthquake and
extraordinary eruption which lately took place about four miles
from this very church in which we are now assembled.
You all know, &c., at about six o'clock in the afternoon, two

152 Haicorth:

portions of the moors in the neighbourhood sunk several yards
during a heavy storm of thunder, lightning, and ruin, and
there issued forth a mighty volume of mud and water, which
spread alarm, astonishment, and danger along its course of
many miles. As the day was exceedingly fine, I had sent
nay little children, who were indisposed, accompanied hy the
servants, to take an airing on the common, arid as they stayed
rather longer than I expected, I went to an upper chamber to
look out for their return. The heavens over the moors were
blackening fast. I heard the muttering of distant thunder,
and saw the frequent flashing of the lightning. Though ten
minutes before, there was scarcely a breath of air stirring, the
gale freshened rapidly, and carried along with it clouds of
dust and stubble ; and by this time some large drops of rain
clearly announced an approaching heavy shower. My little
family had escaped to a place of shelter, but I did not know it.
The house was perfectly still. Under these circumstances, I
heard a deep, distant explosion, and I perceived a gentle
tremour in the chamber." Mr. Bronte considered this 'earth-
quake ' as a monitor to turn sinners from the error of their
ways. The children referred to were the four youngest, as
Maria and Elizabeth had been taken to Cowan Bridge School
a few weeks previously.

The view from the mountain ridges presents a wild and
rugged country seldom traversed by the tourist, but abounding
in beautiful and picturesque scenery. Miss Bronte's word-
pictures of these purplc-heathered moorlands and upland
valleys will be familiar to most readers. Here the geologist,
in particular, may find ample interest. The millstone grit,
the Cobling coal pit, the cold springs, the lateral valleys,
the scattered boulders — each has a history for him. He traces
the cold water to the hidden reservoir, the formation of the
valleys to the remote glacial period, the coal to some great
dislocation, and so on. Miss Bronte gives a vivid and truthful
description of the scenery about Haworth and Stanbury: —
"lu winter nothing more dreary, in summer nothing more

T . PARKER.

Past and Present. 163

divine, than those glens shut in by hills, and those bluff, bold
swells of heath."

A few more names and our list closes. We have in the
Stanbury district, Spring Dikes, Jarnel, Jarnel Washfold,
Silver Hill (900 feet high), Churn Hole, Rushy Grough, Old
Snap (residence of the HeatonB), Whitestone Clough, Ponden
Slack (1100 feet high), Height Lathe, Clogger Wood, Ponden,
Ponden Waters, Clough and Beck, Upper Ponden, Rush Isles,
Round Intake, Slack, Far and Near Slacks, Birch Brink,
Raven Rock, Robin Hood's Well, Ponden Kirk, Kirk Brink,
Waterfalls, Heather Hole and Brink, Bracken Hill, Buckley,
Buckley Green, Duke Top, Cony Garth, Cold Knole End,
and Royds Hall, reaching Toller Lane again, which passes
through Stanbury and Haworth. At Ponden Bridge is a
cotton mill. Grift' Mill (worsted), completes this wild list.

Sowdens is either 'south dean,' or the ' dean of the swine.'
Ernshaw means 'eagle-wood.' Buckley is either named after
the buck, or the Scandinavian btik, 'a beech tree.' Fosse
indicates 'a swamp,' or 'ditch,' or 'waterfall.' Flaightis probably
from the Anglo-Saxon, flet, 'flat.' Limersgate, and Goaten,
and Kirkgate are allied to the Scandinavian (/at, ' a passage,' or
'way.' Limers, I take to be carriers of lime, an important
traffic often mentioned in connection with rights of road.
Crumber means 'crooked land.' Hob is Scandinavian fora
'rising eminence.' Bully Trees is probably Scandinavian also,
from bol, ' a dwelling,' and ley, 'apasture.' Croft is Scandinavian,
meaning 'a small field.' Kirk is from the same language, and
means 'church.' Why applied to Ponden Kirk, I cannot say.
Cam, in Scandinavian, means ' summit.' Conygarth in the same
language, is the ' cony-yard.' Harbour is traced to the Scandin-
avian bur, 'to dwell'; Griff to the Anglo-Saxon yrafe, 'a grove.'
Pond-dene seems to explain itself, but Ripponden is traced to
Ry burn dene. Silver Hill and Silver Dale in the Lake District,
are said to be named after Solvar, a Norse leader, and this
etymology seems to suit our Silver Hill equally as well. There

K

154 tiaworth:

is a local tradition that, during the Scotch Rebellion, a large
chest of silver was hid in the hill.

Ponden House, about a mile and a half from Stanbury,
has the following inscription over the door : "The old house
(now standing) was built by Robert Heaton, for his son
Michael, Anno Domini 1634. The old porch and peat house
were built by his grandson, Robert Heaton, A.D. 1680. The
present building was rebuilt by his descendant, R.H. 1801."
The ruin caused by the Crow Hill disruption may here be
traced. A fish-pond stands on a part of a swamped meadow,
and huge stones are scattered about.

The late Robert Heaton, Esq., had been shooting, with
other gentlemen, 011 the moor a short time before the event
took place, but hastened away for fear of an approaching
storm. That part of the moor where the eruption occurred is
at the present time exceedingly soft and boggy, but there has
been no repetition of the phenomenon.

At Ponden Kirk, as at Ripon Minster, a curious wedding
ceremony is frequently observed. It consists in dragging
one's-self through a crevice in the rock, the successful perform-
ance of which betokens a speedy nuptial. Ponden Kirk
consists of a ledge of high rocks, dry in summer, but forming
a stupendous cataract after heavy rain. It was here that Mrs.
Nicholls (Currer Bell) caught a severe cold shortly before her
death. The place is now frequently called "Wuthering
Heights." Apart from the association of such names as
Crimlesworth and Oakden, fancy easih" ascribes a druidical
settlement at the Kirk.

Ponden Washfold presents an animated scene in the
middle of June when hundreds of sheep are brought to be
washed.

CoNTROVEBSY ON THE DEMOLITION OF HAWORTH CHURCH.

The following letter to the Standard, dated The Bull Inn,
Ha worth, April 3rd, 1879, from a well-known writer, was the
first discharge of public sentiment against the destruction of

Past and Present. 155

Haworth Church. Popular feeling had been pent up some
time, and the aggressive attitude of those who might (with
advantage) have been more conciliatory only tended to give
greater weight to the explosion.

"Haworth Church is doomed. A wealthy resident in
this quaint little village has undertaken to contribute a
handsome amount for its destruction, and for the erection
on its site of one of those elegant modern Gothic edifices which,
in his opinion, and from his point of view, will be, no
doubt, more pleasing in outward appearance than the ancient
weather-beaten and architecturally nondescript building which the
three gifted daughters of Mr. Bronte have made so peculiarly their
own. An effort has been made to save so interesting a parish church
from destruction ; but that effort has apparently failed. The name
of Charlotte Bronte has been invoked in vain, and there is little
reason now to hope that we shall be spared the pain and the shame
of an act of Vandalism which will be viewed with surprise and in-
dignation in more than one quarter of the world."

' ' The present incumbent of Haworth — a Mr. Wade— professes that
he has no love for the name of Bronte, and will be heartily pleased
if an end can be put to those pilgrimages of enthusiastic strangers by
which the dismal calm of the old church is daily broken. To this
Rev. Mr. Wade the name of Bronte is, as he says, nothing more than
the name of his immediate predecessor in the incumbency of Haworth !
He stares in blank amazement when you tell him that it has any
other claim upon his respect or consideration. Yet, I find to-day, aa
I make inquiries here and there of the ' common people ' of Haworth,
that they, at least, one and all, look forward with feelings of shame
and indignation to the impending destruction of the grey old church,
and the consequent removal of a shrine which furnishes the one
claim of their sober village to a fame beyond that enjoyed by the other
towns and hamlets of the West Hiding. It hardly surprises me to
find that 1 have to ' dig deep ' in order to get at public sentiment
on this subject. When Charlotte Bronte was still living, and when
from yonder bleak and weather-beaten parsonage were issuing books
which have added something to the wealth and glory of English litera-
ture, it was not among the rich manufacturers or the local aristocracy
that she found her admirers ; but it was the rough workmen of the
little town, the members of the local ' Mechanics' Institution,' who, to
use her own phrase, ' went crazy ' over ' Shirley ' and ' Jane
Eyre.' Mr. Wade has insisted upon the removal of the Brontes'
pew! That quaint 'square pew,' of a type now rapidly vanishing,
had held more than one famous personage in the days when Currer

156 Haworth:

Bell was in her prime. Thackeray and Miss Martineau, and George
Lewes, and many another distinguished author, might from time to
time be seen here, listening to one of Mr. Bronte's vigorous sermons
on the religion of common life and common sense. In one corner —
not a foot from the spot where her grave now is — Charlotte Bronte
had her own seat, and there, Sunday after Sunday, with undeviating
regularity, she was to be seen, alike in the days of her obscurity and
her fame, with her eyes fixed upon the book held within a few inches
of her face, or upon the pulpit which father or husband occupied.
In the opposite corner was Emily's seat, Emily sitting characteristi-
cally with her back to the congregation, intent upon her own
thoughts and upon the distant view through the window of those moors
which she loved so passionately, rather than upon the utterances of
the preacher. Well, the pew is gone. Was it in the way? No, not
even that poor excuse can be made, for its site has been merely
thrown into the aisle. It was swept away some years ago,
so far as before the iconoclasts of the Bronte worship had
dreamt of going to destroy the church itself. Ah ! well ; one
can still stand at the altar where Charlotte stood on that
early summer morning, when she gave her hand to the man who
had loved her and served for her as long and faithfully as
Jacob for Rachel. And standing there, looking at the little
tablet with that long array of the names of the dead children
of 'The Rev. P. Bronte, A.B., Minister of Haworth,' the lettering
of which is already being obscured by time, one can still feel with
awe and reverence that beneath our feet lie the two women who,
with Mrs. Browning, 'make up for England the perfect trinity
of highest female fame, ' to quote Mr. Swinburne's warm and gener-
ous words. This satisfaction, I say, is still within our reach. But
in a short time that also will be taken from us ; for surely in the
brand new Gothic church of Haworth there will be no room for the
memoiy, hardly any even for the bones, of the Bronte's. The Wades
and such like personages will be enough to fill it ! The quaint old
shrine, where so many generations of villagers have worshipped
content, and which has been glorified by the presence of so rare and
extraordinary a genius, and purified by the memory of a yet rarer
virtue and courage, is doomed ; and the day of its disappearance will
not now be long delayed. As soon as every vestige of the Bronte's
has been cleared away, let us hope that he ma}7 next get the living
of Stratford-upon-Avon, where a good deal of useful clearing away
of old rubbish- I'emains t6 be done. In Mr Bronte's time anyone
who cared to visit it was welcome to see the little room, with its
ugly paper, its simple furniture, its scanty collection of books.
There, in their youth, Charlotte and her sisters had worked together,

Past and Present. 157

and there when fame, beyond anything she had ever dreamt of, bad
come to the eldest, Charlotte sat alone and penned that most won-
derful of all her works — the record of her own soul's history—
' Vilette. ' But all this is changed now, and Mr Wade sets his face
sternly against the admission of any stranger, however distinguished
may be the name he bears, to the old home of the Brontes. It is a
fact, which I write with shame, that among those who have been
refused admission to the house is the daughter of the man who was
Charlotte Brontes literary idol, and to whom 'Jane Eyre' was
dedicated, Mr Thackeray. I will try not to be too hard upon the
clergyman of Ha worth, however."

The Standard in a leading article enquired :

"Shall Haworth Church be destroyed? This we need hardly
tell our readers is the question which engaged the attention of
many correspondents whose letters have appeared in our columns
during the past fortnight. What the answer returned to it has been
will be known to all who have paid any attention to the correspond-
ence. With hardly an exception, all who have addressed us upon
the subject have uttered their strong and indignant protest against
an act, which, if it should be carried out, must reflect grievously
upon the taste, the culture, and the good feeling of the present
generation. Judging by these letters and by the expressions of
opinion which the original communication of our correspondent has
evoked in other quarters, it cannot be doubted that the national
sentiment has been shocked by the announcement that one of the
most interesting memorials of real genius which our country possesses
has been doomed to destruction. In these circumstances we do not
hesitate to renew the protest we have already uttered, and to appeal
directly to the two persons who are most immediately concerned in
the proposed removal of Haworth Church — Mr Wade, the incumbent
of the parish, and his ecclesiastical superior, the Bishop of Ripon.
We would ask those gentlemen whether they are prepared to persist
in what at the very least must be described as an outrage upon public
feeling, now that they know the sentiments which their proposal has
evoked? We are well aware that the part of the Bishop in the
matter is comparatively trivial. It was not from him that the original
scheme for the pulling down of Haworth Church, and the erection of
a new and more showy building, came. Yet if it be true, as our
correspondents suggest, that he has thrown difficulties in the way of
the retention of the present building, and has expressed his readiness
to give his assent to its destruction, he must share with the Rev.
Mr. Wade the responsibility for an act which will excite the amazed
indignation of posterity, even as it has already drawn down upon us

158 Haworth:

the contemptuous sneers of foreign critics. " " It has been established
by the testimony of those who are familiar with the spot, that there
is no absolute necessity for the rebuilding of Haworth Church. It
has stood for centuries, and if restored in a loyal arid reasonable, not
an iconoclastic or barbarous spirit, it may stand for centuries longer.
It is not, moreover, too small for the congregation which now
worships in it. We are greatly mistaken, indeed, if the incumbent
has experienced any difficulty in finding accommodation for those
who are anxious to worship within the walls of the church, or to
listen to his own discourses. It cannot, therefore, be said that there
is any such pressing necessity for the removal of this weather-beaten
and venerable monument of a great family — the greatest family
which even the broad county of Yorkshire has ever produced — as
would alone justify that proceeding. But even if it were to be
granted that the comfort and convenience of Mr. Wade and a few of
the 'aristocracy' of the village might be served by the erection of a
new church, whose glittering newness should bravely outshine the
sober glory of the time-worn edifice on behalf of which our corres-
pondents have pleaded, we should like to ask if there would be any
need in that case to pull down the older building? Can no site be
found in that little hamlet, no spot on the moors which approach so
nearly to the village street, where the new church could be erected,
whilst the other was left standing on its doubly-consecrated
foundations ? We have the authority of more than one local corres-
pondent for the assertion that no difficulty would be found in
providing such a site. We cannot doubt, indeed, that in order to
save the old church from destruction a dozen sites, if necessary,
would be offered. Let it be further borne in mind that popular
feeling, even in Haworth itself, is decidedly against the proposed
change."

I am pleased to be able to state that the Bishop of Ripon
did not place any difficulties in the way. This I have on the
authority of a letter from his lordship.

The Aberdeen Free Press said —

"So far, Mr Wemyss Reid's appeal has been fruitless, and his
protest unheeded. The work of demolition will in all probability go
on, and another memorial of genius will disappear from the land.
This is too common an occurrence in England. When the cottage
where Shakespeare was born was threatened, it required, if we
mistake not, the enterprise and devotion of an American to keep
intact that hallowed relic of the greatest genius the world has seen.
Milton's house at AVestminster was demolished for business purposes;
and the old church at Grasmere is to be ' restored '- -a work which

Past and Present, 159

will go far to break the ties which at present connect it with ' the
man who uttered nothing base. ' But should not the Government
interfere in such cases as these? "

Major- General E. A. Green Emmott-Rawdon wrote to
the Standard —

"I beg to thank you most sincerely for the admirable and most
patriotic manner in which you have written regarding that most
shameful act of vandalism exposed by your correspondent, and so
ably handled in your leading article of the 9th of April— the mis-
chievous destruction of Haworth Church. Sir, I am deeply pained
to see so little regard for old associations paid by the present genera-
tion to the memory of the dead. The Bronte family in their dim
obscurity and humble poverty were rich in all that makes one proud
of being an Englishman or an Englishwoman ; and I appeal to you,
sir, to do your utmost to stay the hand of the destroyer, and pre-
serve to ' Old Haworth ' the memories that are so dear to it and
its people — its old church and its old Bronte associations. It is
quite possible I may be charged with silly views of self-interest,
because I succeeded to the ' Bull Hotel ' and most of the surrounding
property, some years ago. But it is with regret that I have watched
the remorseless way in which so many old monuments and memories
have been destroyed in order to meet the notions of the present
generation. I felt powerless, but now I have some hope that, as the
Standard has taken us by the hand, we may yet be spared the
extreme pain that awaits us. To add anything of my own after the
excellent letter of your correspondent from the Bull, and your own
conclusive leading article, would be indeed painting the lily."

The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings took
up the matter early in the way of protest, but it was left to
the Bradford Historical and Antiquarian Society to make a
practical move in the matter. They obtained signatures to a
memorial to the Bishop, got up a public meeting in Haworth,
and (in the persons of the President and Vice-president)
attended at the Consistory Court.

The public meeting was held in the Drill Hall, May 28th,
1879, Col. Ban-as, trustee of General Rawdon, in the chair.
There were about 500 persons present. The Chairman
expressed a hope that the church might not be demolished,
and read letters from W. B. Ferrand, Esq., Lord of the Manor
of Haworth, and Isaac Holden, Esq., both of whom deprecated

160 Haworth :

its demolition. Mr. Empsall, of Bradford, moved, and Mr.
W. Greenwood, of Oxenhope, seconded the following resolution:
That considering the history and antiquity of Haworth Church,
it is the opinion of this meeting that the church ought not to be
destroyed, but that every effort should be made to preserve it by
judicious restoration or enlargement.

Mr. G. S. Taylor, of Stanbury, moved, and Mr. Waite,
schoolmaster, seconded an amendment:

That this meeting desires to express its concurrence in the course
taken by the Rev. J. Wade in regard to the noble offer of Mr. Merrall
to give £5000.

Dr. Maffey and Mr. Peterson, F.S.A., of Bradford, having
spoken in favour of judicious restoration, the motion was
carried by a large majority. The memorial from the general
public was numerously signed, but that from Haworth had
only half-a-dozen names. The spirit of independence quaked
before local autocracy.

Lord Houghton, Mr. John Hebb, London, Cuthbert Bede,
and others kept the subject before the reading public.

The following communication was addressed to the
British Architect by Mr. James Ledingham, a Bradford
architect —

"The storm raised by the announcement that Mr. Wade, th«
incumbent, backed by a wealthy parishioner, had decided to demolish
the church so intimately connected with the history of one of Eng-
land's greatest female novelists, gathers force as the unwelcome news
travels. And the forcible appeal from the special correspondent of
the >S(andardto the authorities has still further increased its violence,
the fury of which we hope will only be assuaged by the withdrawal
of a scheme which is obnoxious, not only to admirers of the Bronte
family, but to all those who have reverence for the history of Eng-
land as recorded in its ancient buildings. The claim which is made
for the preservation of the building by the admirers of haunts of
genius is one which has been sufficiently enforced elsewhere, and we
need, therefore, not dwell upon it here, but pass at once to the
interest which the church lias, not less to every cultured Englishman
than to the antiquary. Crowning the hill side above the village,
Haworth church forms a striking and picturesque feature in the
landscape, its picturesque character not arising, however, from its
form, but from its mass and surroundings. The general plan of the

Past and Present. 161

church is of a very ordinary form, and may be found dotted here and
there over the land. A nave and north aisle, with a tower at the
west end of tbe former, and containing a vestry, constitutes the
plan ; there is no chancel, and the communion table is placed close
against the east wall of the nave, enclosed by a somewhat massive
balustraded oak communion rail. The aisle is separated from the
nave by a very lofty arcade, and contains a gallery the full width of
the aisle, the gallery being continuous across the west end of the
nave.

The Daily Telegraph said —

"Though the little church now bears no further trace of the
Brontes than a small tablet on the chancel wall, in sight of the pew
where they used to sit, yet the spirit of the family pervades the
place. Indeed, for that matter, the entire building is not so much
the parish church of Haworth as a memorial of those who made
Haworth famous the world over. What, then, if it be ugly and
inconvenient? What if, from an architectural point of view, its
demolition be desirable? These considerations, and all others like
them, are little to the purpose, since the public mind will insist on
regarding the church as before all else a memorial. We have no
desire to impugn the motives of those who contemplate the destruc-
tion of the edifice. Doubtless they mean well, and, dwelling on the
spot, think more of what the churcli should be to the parishioners
than of what it is to the world. But they must not expect to have
their way unchallenged. Emily, Anne, and Charlotte Bronte made
the edifice in which their father ministered the property of the entire
Anglo-Saxon race, and those who, for local and narrow reasons,
would destroy it will surely be called to account. If Haworth needs
a larger building Haworth can have it by appealing to the tens of
thousands who, grateful to the authors of 'Jane Eyre' and
4 Wuthering Heights,' would cheerfully subscribe to a new church
on another site provided the old one were spared.

The Editor of a Skipton paper, and an anonymous corres-
pondent in the Bradford Observer, were about the solitary dis-
sentients from the popular view. The Observer gave also Mr.
Wade's defence.

The Rev. J. Wade, M.A., before commencing his sermon on
Sunday morning, defended the proposed rebuilding of Haworth
Church. He said a statement had been made to the effect that he
had been in consultation with the Bishop of the diocese witli refer-
ence to the proposed new church. It was true that he had been in
consultation with the Bishop, and had received his Lordship's

162 Haworth:

approval of everything that had been clone and all that was intended
to be done in respect to the building in which they were assembled.
He had told his Lordship that whatever was his wish in the matter
he would endeavour to carry out, and his Lordship said that he had
done perfectly right so far in keeping silence, under so much abuse
and reviling, in the spirit of Him who when He was reviled reviled
not again. His (Mr. Wade's) duty in that parish was not to main-
tain a show-place for strangers, but a house of prayer for the praise
of God. That, he would endeavour steadily to keep in his mind. So
far as he was concerned, he had received from the husband of
Charlotte Bronte (the Kev. Mr. Nicholls), and the only living
relative so far as he knew, his entire approval of what was proposed
to be done, so that there was now no further question that the
Bronte family would object. He might say that Mr. Nicholls was
the person who raised the simple memorial in the church to the
memory of the gifted family ; no other person, so far as he was aware
had subscribed to the raising of that memorial. When the new
church was built there should be raised some new memorial — some
splendid memorial if they could manage it within the building — over
the spot where the remains of Charlotte Bronte were deposited. It
would be the care of himself and the churchwardens to see that those
remains were in no way disturbed during the building of the new
church. He honoured her as much as any of those who loved the
house of prayer, but he did not wish them to have any idolatrous
wish or feeling for the genius who was once in that house of prayer.
He might say that there was not a single pew in the church at the
disposal of the churchwardens, and had not been for many years,
except of those families who had left the parish, and he had had
many times to refuse both Dissenters and Churchpeople because
there were no pews except those which were claimed by the Sunday
school and the regular attenders of the church.

Application was made for a faculty to take down and
rebuild Haworth Church, at the Consistory Court, Ripon,
June 19th, 1879. General Emraott-Rawdon, who had offered
a site for a new edifice, was present. Mr. Tomlin, solicitor,
appeared for the Rev. John Wade, M.A. ; Messrs. G. and G.
H. Merrall, churchwardens ; Michael and Edwin Robinson
Merrall, two of the principal parishioners. Mr. Michael Ogden,
of Haworth, expressed his belief that the Church people of
Hawortb desired that the Church should come down. No
parishioner appearing to oppose the faculty, it was granted.

Past and Present. 163

The last eflusion of the Press I have noticed on the sub-
ject is as acrimonious us the first. It is from the Kcrnimj
Standard.

HAWOKTH CHURCH. — The Goths have won the victory, and a
spot dear to all intellectual Englishmen is to be demolished.
Haworth Church is to be pulled down, and a new structure is to be
raised in its place. The pleas raised in its behalf have failed, and
the fact that the new church might have been built hard by, and the
place sacred to the memory of one of the most gifted families of our
race left to stand, was urged in vain. The Vandal party, indeed, did
not care to dispute. They had money and they had the law, and
cared no more for the sentiment and the association of the old fane
than does an Arab who builds his sheepfold with the stones from a
grand temple of antiquity. People of taste, people of heart, through-
out not only England, but the United States, will feel a pang of
anger and sorrow on hearing that at the Consistory Court of the
Cathedral at Kipon a faculty to pull down the fabric of Haworth
Church was granted, in spite of the protests which were made
against it. It may be that the Consistory Court had no power to
refuse the faculty, any more than the Mayor of Stratford-on-Avon
could have prevented the owner of the house in which Shakspeare
was born from pulling it down and building a new stucco shop in its
place. It is not the Court, which only had to administer the law,
which is to be blamed. It is the persons who, having the power to
erect a new church and to allow the fabric dear to all educated men
of Anglo-Saxon blood to stand, have deliberately chosen to perpetrate
the Vandalism of its destruction. The name of the man who burnt
the Alexandrian Library is lost, but the names of those who are
about to destroy the shrine sacred to the memory of the Brontes \\ ill
not easily be forgotten by Englishmen.

Mr. Bret Harte, the great American humorist, writing to
a gentleman who accompanied him on his recent visit to the
"shrine of the Brontes," said: —

"Rest assured, I have not forgotten a single incident of our
pleasant trip to Haworth. As a shrine-breaking American citizen, I
suppose I ought to go in for change., under the name of improvement
and rebuikfintf ; but if any word of mine could keep the old Church
intact — could fix for ever to posterity its grim, hard unloveliness ;
could perpetuate the old churchyard, sacred to unhallowed
mediocrity ; could preserve the religious discipline of those uncom-
fortable stiff-backed pews ; could secure a mortgage on that bleak,
lonely, outlying moor beyond the weary, clambering prospector's

164 Haicorth:

hilly street and unsympathetic inn ; could retain the grim, confining,
limited atmosphere in which those sad sisters lived, and in which
Charlotte's genius was developed — -I'd say it, and make myself a
little clearer than I do now. The Church is not picturesque, nor
characteristic, I suppose; but I am inclined to believe that the
cradle of genius seldom is the one or the other."

The controversy ended in June ; tenders for the demolition
and rebuilding of the Church (the tower is to remain,) were
invited in August, the last sermon was preached on the 14th
of September, and shortly Haworth will have a new
Church, the plans of which were prepared by Messrs. Healey,
of Bradford, in November, 1878.

AUTHORS.

The publications of the Rev. Robert Town, Rev. J. Hart-
ley, Rev. W. Grimshaw, Rev. I. Slee, Rev. Joshua Fawcett,
Rev. James Whalley, and the Rev. P. Bronte have been already
referred to.

We have left Joseph Hardaker's Poems and those of the
Bronte sisters until the last.

Two other authors must be named :—
A. C. SWINBURNE — "A note on Charlotte Bronte." pp.
97. 1877. Chatto and Windus, Piccadilly. He concludes his
eloquent note — "It may well be that in the eyes of English-
men yet unborn not one will be found to have left a nobler
memorial, than the unforgotten life and the imperishable works
of Charlotte Bronte."

J. WEMYSS REID — "Charlotte Bronte — A Monograph,
pp. 236. Macmillan & Co.

This is a worthy supplement to Mrs. Gaskell's 'Life,'
correcting some of her errors, and further elucidating the
character of the Brontes. He states that Mr. Bronte was
named Prunty until he changed it on the suggestion of the
Rev. Thomas Tighe. The book is well illustrated, four of the
views represent scenes in Shirley, &c.

The Yorkshir eman, in a series of articles on the Brontes,
has the remark — "In time we shall have a formidable Bronte

Past and Present. 105

literature. It grows year by year." One of the last refer-
ences I met with wus in Xotm and Qncrictt, where a relative of
the Rev. Thomas Tighe states that Patrick Prunty was not a
tutor in Mr. Tighe's family, hut had a school in his parish.
Mr. Grundy's "Pictures of the Past" contains a chapter on
Branwell Bronte —

"Poor, brilliant, gay, moody, moping, wildly excitable, miser-
able Bronti' ! No history records your many struggles after the
good,— your wit, brilliance, attractiveness, eagerness for excitement,
--all the qualities which made you such 'good company,' and
dragged you down to an untimely grave. But you have had a most
unnecessary scandal heaped upon you by the author of your sister's
J'lnijrajyhy, which that scandal does its best to spoil. Thi? generous
gentleman in all his ideas, this madman in many of his acts, died at
twenty-eight of grief for a woman. But at twenty-two, what a
Splendid specimen of brain-power running wild he was ! AVhat
glorious talent he had still to waste ! That Hector of Haworth little
knew how to bring up and bring out his clever family, and the boy
least of all. He was a hard, matter-of-fact man. So the girls
worked their own way to fame and death, and the boy to death only !
I knew them all. The father, — upright, handsome, distantly cour-
teous, white-haired, tall; knowing me as his son's friend, he would
treat me in the grandisonian fashion, coming himself down to the
little inn to invite me, a boy, up to his house, where I would be
coldly uncomfortable until I could escape with Patrick Branwell to
the moors.

"The daughters — distant and distrait, large of nose, small of
figure, red of hair, prominent of spectacles; showing great intellectual
development, but with eyes constantly cast down, very silent, pain-
fully retiring. This was about the time of their first literary
adventure, 1 suppose— say 1843 or 1844. Branwell was very like
them, almost insignificantly small — one of his life's trials. He had
a mass of red hair, which he wore brushed high off his forehead, — to
help his height, I fancy ; a great, bumpy, intellectual forehead,
nearly half the size of the whole facial contour ; small ferrety eyes,
deep sunk, and still further hidden by the never-removed spectacles;
prominent nose, but weak lower features. He had a downcast look,
which never varied, save for a rapid momentary glance at long
intervals. Small and thin of person, he was the reverse of attractive
at first sight. This plain specimen of humanity, who died unhon-
oured, might have made the world of literature and art ring with the
name of which he was so proud. He one day sketched a likeness of

166 Haicortk :

me, which my mother kept until her death, and which is perhaps
treasured in a more moderate manner among my sisterhood now.
He wrote a poem called 'Bronte,' illustrative of the life of Nelson,
which, at his special request, I submitted for criticism to Leigh
Hunt, Miss Martineau, and others. All spoke in high terms of it."
"One very important statement which he made to me throws
some light upon a question which I observe has long vexed critics ;
that is the authorship of Wutlierinrj Heights. It is well-nigh
incredible that a book so marvellous in its strength, and in its dis-
section of the most morbid passions of diseased minds, could have
been written by a young girl like Emily Bronte, who never saw much
of the world, or knew much of mankind, and whose studies of life
and character, if they are entirely her own, must have been chiefly
evolved from her own imagination. Patrick Bronte declared to me,
and what his sister said bore out the assertion, that he wrote a great
portion of Wuthering Heights himself. Indeed, it is impossible for
me to read that story without meeting with many passages which I
feel certain must have come from his pen. The weird fancies of
diseased genius with which he used to entertain me in our long talks
at Luddendenfoot, reappear in the pages of the novel, and I am in-
clined to believe that the very plot was his invention rather than
his sister's."

In a letter to Mr. Grundy, he writes —
"I have lain during nine long weeks utterly shattered in body
and broken down in mind. The probability of her becoming free to
give me herself and estate never rose to drive away the prospect of
her decline under her present grief. I dreaded, too, the wreck of
my mind and body, which, God knows, during a short life have
been severely tried. Eleven continuous nights of sleepless horror
reduced me to almost blindness, and being taken into Wales to
recover, the sweet scenery, the sea, the sound of music caused me
fits of unspeakable distress. You will say, 'What a fool!' but if you
knew the many causes I have for sorrow which I cannot even hint at
here, you would perhaps pity as well as blame. At the kind request
of Mr. Macaulay and Mr. Baines, I have striven to arouse my mind
by writing something worthy of being read, but I i-eally cannot
do so."

The tragic force of these confessions is intense. In a later letter
he tells Mr. Grundy that the gentleman with whom he had been is
dead. "His property," he says, "is left in trust for the family,
provided I do not see the widow ; and if I do it reverts to the execu-
ting trustees, with ruin to her. She is now distracted with sorrows
and agonies ; and the statement of her case, as given by her coach-

Past and Present. 167

man, who has come to see me at Haworth, fills me with inexpres-
sible grief. Her mind is distracted to the verge of insanit)', and
mine is so wearied that I wish I were in my grave."

Mr. Grundy was then at work at Skipton, and from thence he
went to Haworth to see Branwell. In the cosy parlour of the Black
Bull Mr Grundy sat and awaited Brauwell's corning. Old Mr Bronte
came down tirst, and informed Mr Grundy that Branwell was in bed
when Mr Grundy's message arrived, that for the last few days he
had been almost too weak to leave it— but he had insisted on coming
and would be there immediately. With that, Mr. Bronte left, and
shortly afterwards "the door opened cautiously and a head appeared.
It was a mass of red, unkempt, uncut hair, wildly floating round a
great gaunt forehead ; the cheeks yellow and hollow, the mouth fal-
len, the thin white lips not trembling but shaking, the sunken eyes,
once small, now glaring with the light of madness, — all told the sad
tale too surely." When at last I was compelled to leave, he quietly
drew from his coat sleeve a curving knife, placed it on the table, and
holding me by both hands, said that, having given up all thoughts of
ever seeing me again, lie imagined when my message came that it
was a call from Satan. Dressing himself, he took the knife, which
he had long had secreted, and came to the inn, with a full determina-
tion to rush into the room and stab the occupant. In the excited
state of his mind he did not recognise me when he opened the door,
but my voice and manner conquered him, and 'brought him home to
himself,' as he expressed it. I left him standing bare-headed in the
road, with bowed form and dropping tears. A few days afterwards
he died."

The AtlieiHcum remarks —

Mr. Grundy svishes to whitewash the memory of his friend, who
has been, as he thinks, unjustly assailed in Mrs. Gaskell's Life of his
sister Charlotte ; but the portrait he gives of Patrick, though drawn
in an eminently friendly spirit, is anything but attractive. He
describes the young man's conversation as being extremely vivid and
original, and his practical versatility as being little short of miracu-
lous; but he confesses that Patrick was "as great a scamp as could
be desired."

It is impossible to allow one statement contained in Mr. Gruu-
dy's book to go unexamined and unchallenged. He states, and we
have no doubt that his memory is perfectly correct, that Patrick
Bronte told him that he wrote a great portion of 'Wutbering
Heights,' and that he inferred that the whole plot was Patrick's. It
is to be hoped no critics of the sensational school will allow them-
selves to be deceived by this statement. That the great and tragic

168 Haicorth:

novel in question was the work of one single writer, and that that
writer was the same passionate and Titanic genius who wrote the
poems signed by Emily Bronte, no sane critic can for a moment
doubt, nor should we waver if a hundred asseverations to the contrary
were forthcoming. It would have been impossible for the weak and
vicious Patrick, with all his versatility and his flashes of brilliance,
to write those successive scenes of concentrated force with which, as
with plates of ringing metal, Emily Bronte constructs her sonorous
romance. 'Wuthering Heights' was as much the outcome of her
noble genius as the wretched verses Mr. Grundy quotes are character-
istic of her brother's feeble and fluctuating talent. His statement
that he wrote the greater portion of 'Wutheriug Heights' will be
instantly rejected by any one who considers the purely conversational
and social nature of his gifts, and the sullen integrity of Emily's
character. She would not have endured for a moment to be called
the author of a book which she knew she had no claim to consider
hers. The only trace that Patrick Bronte has left in literature, it is
to be feared, must be looked for in the gloomy pages of his sister Anne's
study in alcoholic pathology.

The kind wish of a friend to soften the horrors of the past is,
unfortunately, self-frustrated by the publication of certain letters,
written by Patrick Bronte to Mr. Grundy in 1845 and 1848. They
are very distressing, and, while they move the pity of the reader,
they display the contemptible spectacle of a clever mind denuded of
its last rags of principle and attempting to conceal its absolute moral
callousness under a pretence of remorse.

William Dearden ("Oakendale,") many years ago wrote
a long letter to the Halifax Guardian in which he asserted
that Branwell read to him and Mr. Leyland a fragment of
"Wuthering Heights" as his own production, and only
recently, D. McB., in the Leeds Times, stated that Branwell
read to him the plot of "Shirley" as his own. The latter
assertion received the silent sneer it deserved. Indeed the
wordings of the two letters were so similar (as <?. //., 'he took
from his hat, the usual receptacle ' — ) that a little plagiarism
suggested itself.

Martha Brown is not alone in her indignation. "Was
Mr. Branwell able to do it '? Would Miss Emily, of all people
condescend to such meanness ? Who knew so well as Miss
Charlotte? Haven't I seen Miss Emily at her writing?"

Past and Present. 169

Miss Emily was a strange character. The dog scenes in
"Shirley," in Mrs. Gaskell's "Life," and in Mr. Reid's
"Monograph," show her undaunted courage. She made a
capital sketch of her favourite — "Keeper," dated, April 24th,
1888, signed "Emily Jane Bronte." It is now in the
possession of Miss Brooksbank, Bradford. The following is
an accurate copy, hy "Ant."

' KEEPER."

A chastisement she gave the animal is narrated by Mrs.
Gaskell. He had been lying on the best bed.

"She went up stairs, and Tabby and Charlotte stood in the
gloomy passage below, full of the dark shadows of coming night.
Downstairs came Emily dragging after her the unwilling 'Keeper,'
his hind legs set in a heavy attitude of resistance, held by the ' scuft
of his neck,' but growling low and savagely. The watchers would
fain have spoken but durst not for fear of taking off Emily's attention
and causing her to avert her head for a moment from the enraged
brute. She let him go, planted in a dark corner at the bottom of the
stairs; no time was there to fetch stick or rod, for fear of the
strangling clutch at her throat — her bare clenched fist struck against
his red fierce eyes before he had time to make his spring, and, in the
language on the turf, she 'punished him' till his eyes were swollen
up, and the half-blind, stupefied beast was led to his accustomed lair,
to have his swollen head fomented and cared for by the very Emily
herself. The generous dog owed her no grudge ; he loved her dearly
ever after ; he walked first among the mourners to her funeral ; he
slept moaning for nights at the door of her empty room ; and never,
so to speak, rejoiced, dog fashion, after her death."

L

170 Hawortli :

Our picture of the Brontt- group is a faithful reproduction
of Mr. Branwell's painting of himself and sisters. I am told
the features of his Bisters are represented accurately, but his
own are not good. Anne is on Branwell's left, Charlotte on the
right, and Emily to the right of Charlotte.

I have seen two large paintings by Branwell, of Martha
Brown's father and uncle, but they lack finish. Miss Brown
has freehand drawings by each of the four children.

The following lines are taken from " The Cottage in the
Wood; or, the Art of becoming Rich and Happy. By the
Rev P. Bronte, A.B., Minister of Thornton, Bradford," a
little 12 mo. of 69 pages, with frontispiece. Second edition,
Inkersley, Bradford, 1818.

This little book is just the one to fascinate an intelligent child,
and must have had some influence on the minds of the little Bronte's.
Mary, the beloved and only daughter at the Cottage, is described in
the following strain: — "Her expressive features were agreeable,
rather than beautiful, borrowing their sweetest charms from the
pious endowments of her mind. Though she had none of that
unmeaning artificial polish, which so many affect, and so few admire,
she possessed something far more irresistibly pleasing ; she obtained
from religion what art could never bestow — that sweet Christian
courtesy which springs from unfeigned love to God and His creatures.
This divine principle shone in her looks, and gave a matchless grace
to all her words and actions. The dove that cooed in the trees
around her was not more harmless than she, nor was the serpent
that lurked in the brambles beneath, more wise. Such were the
dignified simplicity of her manners, and the weight of her sayings,
that whilst piety and virtue were encouraged, folly and vice stood
abashed in her presence."

ON MARY BOWER.

"Is there a daughter kind and good,
Who ne'er a parent's wish withstood,
Whose sweetest task, whose daily food,

Is to obey ;
Let her peruse, and to a flood

Of tears give way.

Past and Present. 171

Is there a wife, fond, true, and fair,

Whose bosom never knows a care,

Save what her husband's weal moves there ;

Let her bemoan,
A sister dead ; whom reptiles share

Beneath this stone.

Is there a mother, whose kind heart,
When her lov'd babes, from right depart ;
Inflicts the rod, yet feels the smart,

Let her draw nigh,
And all her fondest cai'es impart—

And heave a sigh.

Is there a lovely, guileless maid,

Whose case demands sweet counsel's aid ;

Here let her wand'ring feet be stay'd,

In sorrow free :
A bright example lowly laid,

Says "Follow me."

Let all the truly good and wise,
Who knowledge, truth, religion, prize,
With aching hearts, and tearful eyes,

For Mary, mourn ;
For hence she's fled beyond the skies,

Ne'er to return.

But, why weep o'er her senseless clay,
Whose soul now basks in endless day ! —
Go, reader — go — she points the way,

To joys above,
Where death, and hell, ne'er couch for prey,

And God is love."

I have preserved the punctuation as in the original.
Another poem of 119 lines is in blank verse. Mr. Abraham
Holroyd, Bradford, reprinted the prose portion, by permission
of Mr. Bronte, in 1859. 16 pages. In 1811, Mr. Bronte
published " Cottage Poems," 12 mo., Halifax, and in 1818,
"The Rural Minstrel, a Miscellany of Descriptive Poems."
Here is an extract from the

HAPPY COTTAGERS.

The table-cloth, though coarse,

Was of a snowy white,

172 Ilaworth:

The vessels, spoons and knives,

Were clean and dazzling bright :
So down we sat — devoid of care,
Nor envied Kings — their dainty fare.

When nature was refresh'd,

And we familiar grown ;

The good old man exclaim'd,
"Around Jehovah's throne,
Come, let us all — our voices raise,
And sing our great — Redeemer's praise."

Their artless notes were sweet,

Grace ran through evei-y line ;

Their breasts with rapture swell'd,

Their looks were all divine :
Delight o'er all my senses stole,
And heaven's pure joy overwhelm'd my soul.

In his preface to the Cottcuje Poems he remarks: "When
relieved from his clerical avocations, he was occupied in writ-
ing his Poems from morning till noon, and from noon till
night ; his employment was full of real indescribable pleasure
such as he could wish to taste as long as life lasts." From
the Winter Night Meditations we cull :

"Where Sin abounds Religion dies,
And Virtue seeks her native skies ;
Chaste Conscience hides for very shame,
And Honour's but an empty name !
Then like a flood with fearful din
A gloomy host comes pouring in ;
First, Bribery with her golden shield,
Leads smooth Corruption o'er the field ;
Dissention, wild with brandished spear,
And Anarchy brings up the rear ;
Whilst Care, and Sorrow, Grief and Pain,
Run howling o'er the bloody plain."

"O thou whose power resistless fills
The boundless whole, avert those ills
We richly merit ; purge away
The sins which on our vitals prey ;
Protect with thine Almighty shield
Our conquering arms, by flood, and field,

Past and Present. 178

Bring round the time when peace shall smile,
O'er Britain's highly favoured Isle."

The following is taken from The Rural Minstrel:

\\ I XTER.

See ! how the Winter's howling storms
Burst forth, in all their awful forms,

And hollow frightful sound !
The frost is keen, the wind is high,
The snow falls drifting from the sky,
Fast whitening all around.

The muffled sun withdraws his light,
And leaves the cheerless world, to-night,

And all her gloomy train :
Still louder roars the savage blast,
The frowning shades are thickening fast,

And darker scowls the plain !
* * *

Though adverse winds should fiercely blow,
Or heave the breast with sorrow's throe,

Or death stand threatening by ;
Blessed is the man and free from harm
O'er whom is stretched His saving arm,

Who peerless reigns on high.

Mr. Bronte had probably several fugitive pieces. One
such was reprinted in the Bradfordian, 1861. It is dated,
Haworth, 1835.

ON HALLEY'S COMET : 183o.
Our blazing guest, long have you been,
To us, and many more, unseen ;
Full seventy years have passed away
Since last we saw you, fresh and guy.
Time seems to do you little wrong,
As yet you sweep the sky along,
A thousand times more glib and fast
Than railroad speed or sweeping blast.

And so on for a hundred lines, but, as comets are difficult
to follow, we must leave the rest.

CHARLOTTE BRONTE. — Mr. Holroyd, in his " Garland of
Poetry," gives the following Hues by his friend, Benjamin
Preston, of Eldwick,

174

Hawortn :

ON THE DEATH OF CURRER BELL.

' ' Those near her attempted to cheer her by the thought of the
new life which she bore under her heart. ' I dare say I shall be
happy sometime, ' she would reply, ' but I am so ill, so weary ! ' "•
Mrs. GaskeWs "Life."

CHARLOTTE BKONIE

Ear and eye grew weary, weary,
Weary even of life and light :
Weary, weary, oh ! how weary !
Days and nights of pain and blight:
Sweet to her the dreamless slumber
< )f the never-ending night.

Bathed in tears, with blessings laden,
Pillowed on her husband's breast,
Slowly, slowly, as the day-god,
Sank she to her solemn rest:
And a sadness o'er our spirits,
Full like night-clouds o'er the west.

Mournfully wu gather'd round her,
Kibs'd tlio brow, and clasp'd the hand

Past and Present. 175

For we knew her heavenly Father
Call'd her to the Better Land.
Upward went she, for her spirit
Flew to join the ransom'd band.

The following are added as specimens of Miss Bronte's
poetry.

EVENING SOLACE.

The human heart has hidden treasures,

In secret kept, in silence sealed ; —

The thoughts, the hopes, the dreams, the pleasures,

Whose charms were broken if revealed.

And days may pass in gay confusion,

And nights in rosy riot fly,

While lost in fame's or wealth's illusion,

The memory of the past may die.

" But there are hours of lonely musing,
Such as in evening silence come,
When, soft as birds their pinions closing,
The heart's best feelings gather home.
Then in our souls there seems to languish
A tender grief that is not woe ;
And thoughts that once wrung groans of anguish,
Now cause but some mild tears to flow.

And feelings, once as strong as passions,

Float softly back — a faded dream ;

Our own sharp griefs and wild sensations,

The tale of others' sufferings seem.

Oh ! when the heart is freshly bleeding,

How longs it for that time to be,

When through the mist of years receding,

Its woes but live in reverie.

And it can dwell on moonlight glimmer,

On evening shade and loneliness ;

And, while the sky grows dim and dimmer,

Feel no untold and strange distress —

Only a deeper impulse given,

By lonely hour and darkened room,

To solemn thoughts that soar to heaven,

Seeking a life and world to come.

176 Haicorth :

IN MEMORIAM: CHARLOTTE BRONTE.

All day across the purple heath
Fell ceaseless lines of wintry rain,
And all the valley-town beneath
Was mist-hid save the belfry vane.

It rained until the mirk came down

An hour before its wonted time,

And gleams of light crept through the town,

Which flickered out ere midnight chime.

Across the casement yet a-light,
A shadow, like a pulse-beat, passed
Out from the fire-light to the night,
As 'twere the house-heart throbbing fast.

A halcyon sunlit time of love
Is coming to you, lonely heart !
And you shall prize it, though it prove
A bitter-sweet, ere you depart.

* * * *

While o'er the land, whoe'er has known
The glowing words thy hand hath penned,
Shall name thee in a softer tone,
And feel as they had lost a friend. ANON.

EMILY BRONTE. — In an attack of home-sickness when at
Brussels, Miss Emily Bronte composed the following grand
description of her moorland home.

There is a spot, mid barren hills,
Where winter howls, and driving rain ;
But, if the dreary tempest chills,
There is a light that warms again.

The house is old, the trees are bare,
Moonless above bends twilight's dome ;
But what on earth is half so dear — •
So longed for— as the hearth of home?

Past and Present. 177

The mute bird sitting on the stone,

The dank moss dripping from the wall,

The thorn-trees gaunt, the walks o'ergrown, .

I love them, how I love them all !

A little and a lone green lane
That opened on a common wide ;
A distant, dreamy, dim, blue chain
Of mountains circling every side.

A heaven so clear, an earth so calm,
So sweet, so soft, so hush'd an air,
And deepening still the dream-like charm,
"Wild moor-sheep feeding everywhere.

That was the scene, I knew it well ;
I knew the turfy pathway's sweep,
That, winding o'er each billowy swell,
Marked out the tracks of wandering sheep.

ANNE BRONTE. — "The home of the Bronte children must
have been a delightful retreat to them ; for we find many proofs
in their writings that they loved it dearly. Bleak and lonely in
winter, in summer it was surrounded with brown heath, and
blazing blossom, and nature laid before their eyes all her varied
beauty and wild majesty. No wonder that Anne should write
as below, when toiling as a governess far away amongst
strangers." — Holroyd's Garland.

THE CONSOLATION.

Though bleak these woods, and damp the ground,
With fallen leaves so thickly strewn,
And cold the wind that wanders round
With wild and melancholy moan ;

There is a friendly roof, I know,
Might shield IMP from the wintry blast;
There is a tire, whose ruddy glow
Will cheer me for my wanderings past.

And so, though still where'er I go
< 'old stranger-plances meet my eye;
Though, when my spirit sinks in woe,
Unheeded swells the unbidden sigh.

178 Haworth:

Though solitude, endured too long,
Bids youthful joys too soon decay,
Makes mirth a stranger to my tongue,
And overclouds my noon of day ;

When kindly thoughts that would have way,
Flow back, discouraged, to my breast ;
I know there is, though far away,
A home where heart and soul may rest.

Warm hands are there, that, clasped in mine,
The warmer heart will not belie ;
While mirth, and truth, and friendship shine
In smiling lip and earnest eye.

The ice that gathers round my heart
May there be thawed; and sweetly, then,
The joys of youth, that now depart,
Will come to cheer my soul again.

Though far I roam, that thought shall be
My hope, my comfort everywhere ;
While such a home remains to me,
My heart shall never know despair.

Her "Word to the Elect" shows that theological subjects
were not ignored by her, and her impressions on a subject that
has commanded general attention during the past six years.

That none deserve eternal bliss I know ;

Unmerited the grace in mercy given ;

But none shall sink to everlasting woe

That hath not well deserved the wrath of Heaven.

And oh ! there lives within my heart
A hope long nursed by me ;
(And should its cheering ray depart,
How dark my soul would be !)

That, as in Adam ALL have died,
In Christ shall ALL men live ;
And ever round his throne abide,
Eternal praise to give.

That even the wicked shall at last
Be fitted for the skies,
And when the dreadful doom is past
To life and light arise.

Past and Present. 179

I ask not how remote the day,
Nor what the sinners' woe,
Before their dross is purged away ;
Enough for me to know,

That when the cup of wrath is drained,
The metal purified,

They'll cling to what they once disdained,
And live by Him that died.

Charlotte writes — "As I have given the last memento
of my sister Emily, I also give that of Anne."

RESIGNATION.

I hoped that with the brave and strong
My portioned lot might lie,
To toil among the busy throng,
With purpose pure and high.

But God has fixed another part,
And he has fixed it well ;
I said so with my bleeding heart
When first the anguish fell.

Thou, God, hast taken our delight,

Our treasured hope away ;

Thou bidst us now weep through the night,

And sorrow through the day.

These weary hours will not be lost,
These days of misery,
These nights of darkness, anguish tost,
Can I but turn to Thee.

With secret labour to sustain
In humble patience every blow ;
To gather fortitude from pain,
And hope and happiness from woe.

Then let me serve Thee from my heart,
Whatever be my written fate,
Whether thus early to depart,
Or yet a little while to wait.

If thou should'st bring me back to life,
More humbled I should be,
Move wise, more strengthen'd for the strife,
More apt to lean oil Thee.

180 Haivorth :

Should death be standing at the gate;
Thus should I keep my vow ;
But, Lord ! whatever be my fate,
0 let me serve Thee now !

"These lines written, the desk was closed, the pen laid
aside — for ever."

JOSEPH HAKDAKER claims more than a passing notice as
a gifted Haworthite. He published, in 1822, "Poems, Lyric
and Moral," printed by Mr. Inkersley, Bradford. In 1830,
" The Aeropteron: or Steam Carriage," issued from Mr. Aked's
press at Keighley, and the year following Mr. Crabtree, of
Keighley, printed for him " The Bridal of Tomar, and other
Poems." He is said to have tried almost every sect of
religionists, and finally became a Roman Catholic, in which
faith he died.

The following is from his " Tour to Bolton Abbey" :
There the old Abbey's gothic arches stand,
Whose grey walls' tottering to the wild winds' nod,
Marked with stern time's and desolation's hand,
The sacred shade; the hallowed shrine of God.
There, with affected gravity, the owl
Sits pensive, hooting to the silvery moon,
Till scar'd by morn from her nocturnal prowl,
She shuns the radiance of the glorious sun.

Graceful and rich the creeping ivy crawls
Around each bust, high on the Abbey borne ;
Kindly it clasps the old cemented walls,
Grown grey with age, and with the weather worn.
Of uncouth form, what erst was grand,
Haply escaped the ruthless war-fiend's rage,
The long rear'd ancient gothic columns stand,
Unturn'd by time, unlevell'd yet by age.

There oft stern winter's mantle has been cast,
While drifting snows chok'd up the dark defiles ;
Full many a storm and many a bitter blast
Have whistled wildly through the winding aisles.
The gloomy vaults, whose unfrequented stones,
] u dampy sweat and solemn stillness pent,

Past and Present. 181

Perhaps conceal some reverend father's bones,
Whose days were there devotionally spent.

Forth from the area of the Abbey shoots
The spreading elm, with bending ashes green,
Whose widely creeping old romantic roots,
Across the winding grass-grown aisles are seen.
Ah ! cruel Henry, ruthless was thy rage,
Or yon fair piles had stopped thy mad career;
The savage tyrant, Nero of thy age,
Mad with ambition, unrestrained by fear.

Rude as the blocks that from the cliffs project,
Some uncouth stones of shapeless forms appear ;
Some long forgotten ashes to protect,
While some the marks of modern sculpture wear.
There, too, the ash, chief tenant of the wood,
In bushy pride, yet graceful reverence stands
The brunt of storms, for centuries it has stood,
Planted and pruned by long-forgotten hands.

And there aloft the passing stranger sees,

Cling round the boughs that shade the hallowed ground,

The playful squirrel darting through the trees,

In native wildness, springing forth they bound.

The ancient gateway, rear'd in Gothic taste,

The lengthened walls, beneath the oak's deep shade,

The even lawn in tufted verdure drest,

With rustic seats for recreation made.

There, too, are seen the peasant's homely cot,
The lordly mansion, and the cloistered cell ;
The artless, moss-roofed, elevated grot,
And various shades where virtue loves to dwell.
Delightful now, yet more delightful, when
Was heard the tinkling of the Abbey bells,
Whose sound vibrated down the distant glen,
By echo channted from the neighbouring hills :

For oft they through the little hamlet rung,
And called the peaceful villagers to prayers,
Where pious monks and holy fathers sung,
Raising their thoughts above the vaulted spheres.

182 Heucorth:

If aught of ai-t can add another grace
To Nature's charms, or Nature's charms improve,
'Tis surely found in yon sequester'd place,
The seat of peace, of piety, and love.

The following lines, referring to an official who has been
long laid under the mould, are from the same pen. Mr.
Hardaker wrote several others in this kind of stanza, as " An
Epistle to my Lady's Lap-dog, Pompey," " To the Author's
fine collection of Walking Sticks." —

THE HAWORTH SEXTON.

0, Sexton ! ye are such a soul,
Ye little care for whom ye toll,
If ye can drain the arvill bowl ;

With many more,
Ye'll for a moment sigh and growl,

Then all is o'er.

Before the corpse, in solemn pace,

Full oft I've seen ye pull a face,

As though ye were to truth and grace

Nearly allied ;
That few would think ye mean or base

So deep ye sighed.

But think ye, old case-hardened blade,
Knight of the mattock and the spade,
Some lustier brother of the trade,

Perhaps ere long,
May lig you where you've thousands laid,

Nor think it wrong.

SUBSCRIBERS.

The Most. Hon. the Marquis of Ripon, K.G., Studley Royal.

The Right Hon. Lord Houghton, D.C.L., F.S.A., Frystone Hall (3)

Past and Present.

188

Rev. J. Angus, D.D., Reg. Pk. Coll.
W. Anderton, J.P., Cleckheaton
W. Andrews, F.R.H.S., Hull
A. Appleyard, Keighley (2)

J. A. Busfeild, J.P., Bingley

J. H. Batley, Huddersfield

J. G. Berry, Fixby

T. Brear, Bradford (6)

J. B. Bilbrough, Leeds

Thos. Briggs, G.P.O., London

Joseph Briggs, Idel

G. Best, Haworth

J. Buckley, F.R.G.S., Winsford

J. M. Barber, Heckmondwike

I. Binns, F.R.H.S., Batley

MissBrooksbank, Tyrrel St. , Bradford

Mrs. Brown, (Jhangegate, Haworth

Miss M. Brown, Haworth

J. Bottomley, Photographer, Bradford

Miss Binns, Cross, Oxenhope

T. Barraclough, Haworth

J. Briggs, Haworth

R. Binns, Bridge House, Haworth

W. Binns, Summerfield, Oxenhope

Brook Booth, Newlands, Brighouse

J. \V. Clay, Rastrick House, Rastrick

Col. J. L. Chester, LL.D., London

F. Curzon, Leeds

S. J. Chadwick, Mirfield

W. Cudworth, Bradford

W. F. Carter, Edgbaston, Birmingham

Rev. R. Cordingley, Scotforth (2)

Enoch Chaplin, Haworth

J. W. Cockshott, Oakworth

J. W. Davis, F.G.S., Halifax
Stanley Dickinson, Halifax
H. Dalby, Mechanics' Buildings, Bfd.
C. H. Dennis, Wesleyan School,

Haworth (2)

W. Dunlop, J.P., Grange, Bingley
Geo. Dyson, Bethel Street, Brighouse

S. Elliott, Stanley
Dr. Exell, Idel

W. Exley, Bermondsey, Bradford
Dr. Fairbank, Doncaster
W. Foster, J.P., Queensbury

0. Field, F.S.A., London
T. Fairbank, Windhill

J. Feather, Idel

E. Feather, Haworth

J. Guest, F.S.A., Rotherham

Rev. W. B. Grenside, M.A., Melling

Rev. W. T. Garrett, M.A., Crakehall

Rev. J. B. Grant, B.A., Oxenhope

W. Glossop, Bradford

Bronte Greenwood, Haworth

W. Greenwood, Mytholm (2)

J. D. Goldthorp, Wakefield

R. Haughton, Subscription Library,

York .
J. Hepworth, Gas Works, Carlisle

1. I. Howard, LL.D., Blackheath
Rev. T. M. Horsfall, Bobbington Vic.
Rev. Canon Hulbert, M.A., Almndbry
Rev. H. Harrison, Vicar, Idel

John Hebb, Board of Works, L'don(2)
R. Hanby, Chetham Library, Man-
chester

A. Holroyd, Eldwick, Eingley

I. Hordern, Oxly-Woodhouse, Hud-
dersfield

E. R. Halford, Idel
J. F. Horsfall, Oxenhope
W. Horsfall, Heckmondwike
L. Hainsworth, Bowling, Bradford (2)
J. Hainsworth, Thackley, Idel
Lambert Hudson, Haworth
Amos Ingham, M.D., Haworth (2)
R. Jackson, Commercial St., Leeds (2)
E. A. Jowett, 17, Grove Terrace,

Brighouse
R. Kershaw, Crow Nest, Lightcliffe

B. Lockwood, J.P., Storthes, Hud-
dersfield

W. Law, J.P., Littleborough

W. Lee, Hanover Square, Bradford

184

Haworth :

J. Lister, M.A., Shibden Hall
J. Lord, Gooder Lane, Rastrick

G.W.Marshall, LL.D., F.S.A., Lndn.

J. Massey, J.P., Burnley (2).

Dr. Maffey, Bradford.

S. M. Milne, Calverley

T. P. Mannock, Hanover Square,

Bradford

R. Moxon, Pontefract
S. Margerison, Calverley
W. Mawson, Idel
J. Moore, Haworth (3)
Major Newsome, Newcastle
Dr. Oldfield, Heckmondwike
M. Ogden, Haworth (3)
Arthur Orton, Haworth
Arthur Oldfield, Shipley (6)

J. .Pickup, 13, Queen St., Brighouse

E. Pickles, Commercial St., Brighouse
John Pearson, junr., Bradley, near

Huddersfield

T. Parker, Wombleton Nawton
J. Pickles, Normanton
J. Peate, Guiseley
J. E. Poppleton, Horsforth

F. Peel, Heckmondwike

W. Procter, Scholes, Keighley
Arton Parker, Queensbury
J. Rusby, F.R.H.S., Regent's Park
F. Ross, F.R.H.S., Stamford Hill,

London

J. B. Reyner, J.P., Ashton-undr-Lyne
T. H. Rushforth, Coley Lodge, Baling
Rev. T. Milville Raven, M.A.,

Crakehall

S. T. Rigge, Halifax
Marion Redman, Haworth
S. Rayner, Pudsey
T. Richardson, Market, Bradford.
J. Robinson, Manchester Rd., Bradfd.

E. Solly, F.R.S., F.S.A., Sutton,

Surrey
J. Sykes, M.D., F.S.A., Doncaster

Rev. T. Sutcliffe, J.P., Heptonstall
W. Smith, F.S.A.S., Morley
W. H. Smith and Son, Strand
C. W. Sutton, Free Library, Man-
chester

Mrs. Stapylton, Myton Hall
Miss Scnven, Otley
R. B. Shackleton, Cross Hills
A. B. Sewell, Bradford
R. Sugden, Brighouse

F. Shute, Headingley

S. Scholefield, Denholme (6)

W. Sessions, York

Joseph Stead, Heckmondwike

J. J. Stead, Heckmondwike

W. Scruton, Bradford

Mrs. Smith, Brighouse Fields, Rastrick

W. Taylor, Bailiffe Bridge, Brighouse

T. W. Tew, J.P., Carleton Grange (2)

G. W. Tomlinson, F.S.A., Hud-
dersfield

J. W. Tottie, J.P., Coniston Hall
Rev. R. V. Taylor, B A., Melbecks

Vicarge

G. Terry, Mirfield
J. Toothill, Haworth
J. Thornton, Guy's Cliffe, Bradford (2)

F. W. Turner, Boilings Mill, Hwth. (2)
Robert Townend, Town End, Hawth.
Thomas Thorp, College St., Keighley
W. J. Vint, Idel

C. H. L. Woodd, J.P., Oughtershaw

Hall

Rev. J. B. Waytes, M.A., Marking-
ton Hall

Rev. J. Whalley, Burmantofts, Leeds
Rev. J. Ward, Melton Mowbray
J. W. Willans, F.S.S., Headingley
J. Watkinson, Fairfielcl, Huddersfield
J. H. Wurtzburg, Leeds
S. Waterhouse, Clarendon St., Bradfd.
J. Walbank, Mill Hey, Haworth
T. Waterhouse and Sons, Bradford (3)

G. S. Young, Market, Bradford (7)

'oral Ihrohs,

By J. HORSFALL TURNER.

HAWORTH, PAST AND PRESENT : A History of Haworth,
Stanbury, and Oxenhope. 20 Illustrations. 8s.

" Mr. J. Horsfall Turner has here given us a delightful little
history of a place which will always have an interest for the
student of English literature. We have not space to deal with it
as lengthily as it deserves, but we can say that all should read it
who care to know anything of the little village made memorable
by the Brontes' fame. It may be obtained of the author, Idel,
Bradford, and is ridiculously cheap." — Graphic, Jan. 31, 1880.

NONCONFORMIST REGISTER of Births, Marriages, and Deaths,
1644-1750, by the Revs. 0. Heywood and T. Dickenson,
from the MS. in the Congregational Memorial Hall,
London, comprehending numerous notices of Puritans
and Anti-Puritans in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cheshire,
London, &c., with Lists of Popish Recusants, Quakers, &c.
Five Illustrations, 380 pages, 6s.

THE REV. 0. HEYWOOD, B.A., 1680-1702: His Autobiography,
Diaries, Anecdote and Event Books, illustrating the Gen-
eral and Family History of Yorkshire and Lancashire.
Four volumes, 380 pages each, illustrated, bound in cloth,
6s. each.

VOLUME rv. is now in the press, and the names of Sub-
scribers should be forwarded immediately.

INDEPENDENCY AT BRIGHOTJSE : Pastors and People, 4 Illus-
trations. 3s.

NONCONFORMITY IN IDEL, AND HISTORY OF AIREDALE COLLEGE,
10 Illustrations, (autotype portraits of Rev. J. Dawson,
Founder of Low Moor Ironworks ; Rev. W. Vint, S.T.P.),
&c. 8s.

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LOCAL BOOKS— continued.

BIOGRAPHIA HALIFAXIENSIS : A Biographical and Genealogical
History for Halifax Parish. Two volumes, 380 pages,
with Portraits, 6s. each.

Vol. I. is a reprint of half of Mr. Watson's " Halifax,"
that is, such chapters as the Halifax Worthies, Vicars,
Benefactors, &c. This volume thus serves a double
purpose, as it is a literatim reprint.

Vol. II. to be issued in Spring, 1885, will be an
original compilation, noting the Families and Worthies
for six hundred years.

LIFE OF CAPTAIN JOHN HODGSON, 1640-83. Illustrated, Is. 3d.

This is a reprint of the 1806 publication, said to have been edited
by Sir Walter Scott. The Captain narrates his exploits in the Wars
at Bradford, Leeds, Lancashire, Isle of Man, Scotland, &c., and the
troubles that followed on his settlement at Coley Hall, near Halifax,
his imprisonment in York Castle, &c.

THE ANTIQUITIES OF HALIFAX : By the Rev. Thomas Wright,
A Literatim Reprint. Is. 6d.

I have no sympathy with that form of Bibliomania that hoards up
a book because it is scarce. Wright's " Halifax " is here offered for
one-twelfth the selling price of the 1738 volume.

Ready for the press : —
HALIFAX REPRINTS.

THE GIBBET BOOK. 2s.
KEABTBEE'S ALMANACK, 1685. 2s.

TEIPLEX MEMORIAL, the scarcest, by far, of Halifax
Books. 2s.

THE BRIDGES OF W. R. YORKSHIRE : Their Histories and
Mysteries. By the late Fairless Barber, Esq., F.S.A.,
and J. Horsfall Turner.

*** P.O. Orders payable at Idel, near Bradford.

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